Aitor Villar, Alexander Lohrmann, Xueliang Bai, Tom Vergoossen, Robert Bedington, Chithrabhanu Perumangatt, Huai Ying Lim, Tanvirul Islam, Ayesha Reezwana, Zhongkan Tang, Rakhitha Chandrasekara, Subash Sachidananda, Kadir Durak, Christoph F. Wildfeuer, Douglas Griffin, Daniel K. L. Oi, and Alexander Ling, “Entanglement demonstration on board a nano-satellite,” Optica 7, 734-737 (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.387306
Global quantum networks for secure communication can be realized using large fleets of satellites distributing entangled photon pairs between ground-based nodes. Because the cost of a satellite depends on its size, the smallest satellites will be most cost-effective. This Letter describes a miniaturized, polarization entangled, photon-pair source operating on board a nano-satellite. The source violates Bell’s inequality with a Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt parameter of 2.60±0.062.60±0.06. This source can be combined with optical link technologies to enable future quantum communication nano-satellite missions.
