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IQUIST-NRIK collaboration to build the first quantum network with open-air links

11/8/2022 Michael O'Boyle for IQUIST

The National Research Institute of Korea (NRIK) began funding a five-year initiative on August 1 to construct a distributed quantum network connecting nodes separated by 20 kilometers. It will also be the first “hybrid” network connecting nodes using both optical fibers and open-air links to mobile platforms like drones. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researcher Paul Kwiat will play an integral role in its development.

Kwiat, the Bardeen Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering and researcher in UIUC’s Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST), has known the principal investigator, Hee Su Park of the Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), since Park was a visiting scientist in his research group 10 years ago. They collaborated on a technique that has led to what is now the world’s most efficient single-photon source.

Written by Michael O'Boyle for IQUIST

Madeline Stover is a physics doctoral student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying atmospheric dynamics applied to forest conservation. She interns as a science writer for Illinois Physics, where she also co-hosts the podcast Emergence along with fellow physics graduate student Mari Cieszynski. When Stover is not doing research or communications, she enjoys hosting her local radio show, singing with her band, and cooking with friends.

Daniel Inafuku graduated from Illinois Physics with a PhD and now works as a science writer. At Illinois, he conducted scientific research in mathematical biology and mathematical physics. In addition to his research interests, Daniel is a science video media creator.

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Jamie Hendrickson is a writer and content creator in higher education communications. They earned their M.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. In addition to their communications work, they are a published area studies scholar and Russian-to-English translator.

Garrett R. Williams is an Illinois Physics Ph.D. Candidate and science writer. He has been recognized as the winner of the 2020 APS History of Physics Essay Competition and as a finalist in the 2021 AAAS Science and Human Rights Essay Competition. He was also an invited author in the 2021 #BlackinPhysics Week series published by Physics Today and Physics World. 

 

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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This story was published November 8, 2022.