R&D 100 winner of the day: Matter-wave modulating secure quantum communicator (MMQ-Com)

The Information Age we live in demands data security, but the safety of our data is in peril given the rise of quantum computers that can decode classical encryption schemes. Currently, the only safe alternatives are quantum cryptography approaches that rely on photons. With Berkeley Lab’s Matter-wave modulating secure quantum communicator (MMQ-Com) innovation, the world gains a fundamentally new, non-photon-based quantum technology for secure data transfer. Unrivaled by classical instruments and in a class all its own among quantum instruments, the MMQ-Com takes advantage of wave-particle duality to encode data in the interference contrast of electrons. Messages are transmitted by modulating electron matter-waves without changing the phase or the pathways of the electrons revealing a pure quantum transmission scheme with no analog in light or neutral atom optics. This secure communication method is inherently impervious to any interception attempt, whether classical or quantum. Considering the vast future market for quantum information science and the accelerating industrial and governmental innovation race, we believe that the MMQ-Com will have an enormous impact in quantum communication and computing.