Experimental Quantum Sensing and Communication based on Quantum Illumination

Quantum information science (QIS) gives rise to unprecedented capabilities in sensing, computing, and communication. In this talk, I will first provide an overview of QIS and then describe our recent work on using entanglement, a unique but fragile quantum phenomenon, to improve the performance of sensing. I will describe our quantum-illumination-based target-detection experiment in a highly lossy and noisy environment. The experiment demonstrates an entanglement-enabled signal-to-noise ratio improvement over the optimum classical sensing scheme. Such a technology would find applications in high-resolution material characterization and biomedical imaging. I will also discuss a quantum receiver that approaches the ultimate quantum-illumination performance bound. The second part of the talk is dedicated to quantum communication, a technology offering unconditional security vouchsafed by the laws of physics. The demonstrated rates of quantum communication, however, fall far short of what classical communication affords. I will introduce our recent broadband quantum communication experiment that achieves a 1.3 Gbit/s rate over a channel with a 10-dB loss (equivalent to 50-km fiber transmission), a ~1000-fold improvement over state-of-the-art. Before closing, I will discuss promising future directions for ultraprecise and non-invasive sensing and imaging, high-performance computing, and quantum communication networks.