"KIST Develops Key Technology for Quantum Cryptography Commercialization"

Users generate public and private keys that guarantee security based on computational complexity in modern cryptosystems and use them to encrypt and decrypt data. However, modern public-key cryptosystems have recently faced potential security flaws against quantum computers with massive computational power. Quantum cryptosystems have received a lot of attention as a solution. They use quantum keys to ensure security based on quantum physics rather than computational complexity, making them secure against quantum computers. As a result, quantum cryptosystems are expected to replace traditional cryptosystems. The most important technology for realizing quantum cryptosystems is Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). To commercialize QKD, two major technical issues must be addressed. The first is the communication distance, and the second is the expansion from one-to-one to one-to-many or many-to-many network communication. The Twin-field (TF) QKD protocol, which was announced in 2018, is a long-distance protocol that can significantly increase the communication distance of QKD systems. In TF QKD, two users can distribute a key by sending quantum signals to a third-party intermediary for measurement. Given the unavoidable channel loss, this architecture enables users to extend their communication distance. However, it has been demonstrated by only a few global QKD leading groups because of the significant difficulty of system implementation, and research on the TF QKD network is still lacking. Therefore, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that their research team, the Center for Quantum Information, has successfully demonstrated a practical TF QKD network in an experimental setting. This is the world's second experimental demonstration of the TF QKD network. The research team proposed a new TF QKD network structure based on polarization-, time-, and wavelength-division multiplexing that is scalable to a two-to-many network. This article continues to discuss the KIST's development of essential technology for quantum cryptography commercialization. 

SCIENMAG reports "KIST Develops Key Technology for Quantum Cryptography Commercialization"