UChicago & Argonne Scientists Entangle Photos Across 52-Mile Network in Chicago: Step in Developing National Quantum Internet

(U.Chicago) cientists from Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago entangled photons across a 52-mile network in the Chicago suburbs, an important step in developing a national quantum internet.
The quantum loop, spearheaded by UChicago professor and Argonne senior scientist David Awschalom, ran its first successful entanglement experiments on Feb. 11. Headquartered at Argonne, the loop is among the longest land-based quantum networks in the nation.
The experiment, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences, is seen as a foundational building block in the development of a quantum internet— potentially a highly secure and far-reaching network of quantum computers and other quantum devices. A quantum internet could catalyze technologies that greatly accelerate today’s internet, significantly improve the security of communications, and support dramatic advances in computing and sensing. Scientists say quantum technology could revolutionize national and financial security, patient privacy, drug discovery, and the design and manufacturing of new materials, while increasing our scientific understanding of the universe.