Researchers from the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering in Louisiana have developed a smart quantum technology that could have real-world applications for quantum networks and future quantum communications systems used in the military.

“Recent developments in optical technologies have resulted in extremely high information transfer rates using the spatial properties of light — i.e. images (and more complex structured beams),”said Ryan Glasser, an associate professor of physics at Tulane. “However, a difficulty in such communications using light through free-space is that turbulence can severely distort the beams, resulting in errors in the communication.”

To correct the errors, researchers developed an artificial intelligence (AI) scheme to overcome the negative effects of turbulence on light that propagates through the atmosphere. The system corrects for spatial distortions of laser light.

“We showed the system’s efficacy first in the classical regime by using simulations,” Glasser said.

The work was funded through the U.S. Office of Naval Research to develop AI techniques to help create robust communications networks. Tulane then collaborated with a team from Louisiana State University (LSU), which implemented an experiment to show that the AI approach could potentially be adapted to work using quanta of light, or single photons.

“The experiment our LSU collaborators performed shows that we can overcome the destructive effects of turbulence on single photons, which will aid in the real-world implementation of free-space quantum communication links,” Glasser said. “Such technologies are crucial to future quantum technologies, including quantum networks and quantum imaging. We’re excited to be doing research that combines the flourishing fields of quantum technologies and artificial intelligence.”

Sara Gamble, program manager at the U.S. Army Research Office, said the research is still in the early stages of understanding the potential for machine learning techniques to play a role in quantum information science. But, she said, “the team’s result is an exciting step forward in developing this understanding, and it has the potential to ultimately enhance the Army’s sensing and communication capabilities on the battlefield.”

The study appears in the journal Advanced Quantum Technologies.