Grant: Alliance Grants

The proposed NSERC-UKRI collaboration will launch the Resilient Quantum Optical Networks (ReQON) Programme as an international team that looks to integrate mobile technologies into emerging quantum optical communication links. The ReQON Programme brings together researchers on these efforts from the University of British Columbia in Canada, led by Dr. Jonathan Holzman, and Durham University in the United Kingdom, led by Dr. Andrew Reeves. The combined team will develop the necessary (laser-based) free-space optical links, for communication through the terrestrial environment, with tailored protocols on quantum encryption, for robust security from eavesdropping and jamming across the environment. Such quantum-encrypted free-space optical links have great potential, given their abilities for ultrahigh-speed (terabit-per-second) data rates with reinforced (encrypted) security. The ReQON Programme draws upon the expertise of Dr. Holzman for much of the developmental work on (retro-modulator-based) transceivers and the expertise of Dr. Reeves for the incorporation of adaptive optics systems into the ultimate free-space optical communication links. The team has worked together in the past on long-range (ground-to-satellite) free-space optical communication links, which has led to several world firsts and records, and they now look to tackle the challenges of mobility and resiliency for such links in the terrestrial environment. The team is ideally suited to launch these solutions--and the ReQON Programme is the ideal platform for their launch.