Scientists Have Demonstrated Quantum Entanglement on a Tiny Satellite Orbiting Earth

Science Alert  June 28, 2020
A CubeSat launched last year from the International Space Station was specially designed to shield the entangled photon source from the pressures and temperatures of a launch from Earth. An international team of researchers (Singapore, Turkey, Switzerland, Australia, UK) describes the experiment which is composed of a source of entangled photon pairs coupled to a detector module all controlled by an integrated electronics subsystem. A micro-controller on the experiment interfaces to the satellite’s on-board computer to receive commands and to return science data to ground control. It operates using as little power as possible. The in-orbit experiment occupies approximately 2U of volume in the 3U CubeSat. The remaining 1U houses the spacecraft avionics. It can be combined with optical link technologies to enable future quantum communication nano-satellite missions…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

Essential optics in the experiment. LD, laser diode; DM, dichroic mirror; YVO4, yttrium orthovanadate; LCPR, liquid-crystal polarisation rotator; P, polarizer; GM-APD, Geiger-mode avalanche-photodiode… Credit: Optica Vol. 7, Issue 7, pp. 734-737 (2020)