The term “vaporware” was coined in 1982 by a Microsoft engineer to describe the company’s Xenix operating system. (If you haven’t heard of Xenix, you’re not alone!) From that point on, vaporware became an accepted practice in the software community to announce features or platforms that would ultimately never make it to market. The term now extends to hardware companies hyping their breakthrough technologies that don’t advance past a basic concept. As an emerging industry with great potential, quantum tech is not immune – admittedly, our industry has had some notable offenders. 

But what happens when your company literally produces vaporware? At Qunnect, we rely on rubidium vapor to produce and store qubits as well as leveraging it to provide an insanely high precision reference to our instruments sitting in different locations across quantum networks – it is essentially the foundation of our product suite. While some exquisite fundamental physics can be studied using extremely cold rubidium vapor, we prefer the hot variety for our commercial hardware implementations. If you’ve seen the Qunnect team at conferences, you might recognize our t-shirts and swag that proclaim, “We like it hot!” (Check out our chief scientist Mehdi Namazi’s preferred [notebook](https://twitter.com/ThisisTheMazzi/status/1700992652299419798/photo/1).)

Do you use GPS? Guess what, you’re a vaporware fan, too! Atomic vapors like rubidium and cesium are the basis for atomic clocks which provide position, navigation and timing references to not only help us travel in unfamiliar places, but they also give the internet a master clock to timestamp everything from financial transactions to cat videos. 

Beyond clocks, atomic vapors like rubidium are also at the heart of quantum sensors. Unlike traditional sensors, a quantum sensor leverages the inherent instability of quantum states to detect minute changes. It vastly improves the accuracy of how we measure and interact with the world by collecting data at the atomic level. Infleqtion, for example, is commercializing Tiqker, an atomic frequency reference that uses vapors to provide high-precision, resilient navigation in challenging environments where GPS is unavailable or susceptible to spoofing/denial attacks. Earlier this year, our investor SandboxAQ successfully tested its quantum sensor-based magnetic anomaly navigation system with the U.S. Air Force.

With rubidium, Qunnect’s “vaporware” is making quantum entanglement-based networking tangible. Qunnect has been selling quantum memories to researchers since 2021 and launched our GothamQ network in NYC in 2023. It’s part of a wave of recent developments in the field that is starting to shift customers’ mindset from “quantum curious” to one that is more “quantum committed.” 

So, the next time you hear the term “vaporware” in casual conversation, we ask that you challenge the definition. In our case, the hype is real -- our quantum networking hardware is shipping to customers, and it’s why we’ve adopted “hardware, not hype” as our new mantra. Stay tuned for our upcoming publication on the performance of our hardware on our GothamQ network in NYC!

Restoring the Reputation of Vaporware

And that’s a wrap! We had an incredible week at IQT New York where we presented on our [latest entanglement distribution projects](https://www.qunnect.inc/posts/2) and hosted more than 60 friends, colleagues, and partners at our R&D facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for tours of our GothamQ testbed running live. 

The conference, held October 24 – 26, brought together leading voices and innovators in quantum. It was an opportunity for us to showcase our evolving hardware products and engage with folks about where the industry is going. More than ever, it’s clear that hype is not a product.  The only way to move the industry forward is to get hardware into the hands of users to discuss real performance specs and challenges. Here are some of our key insights from the event:

**Quantum Technologies Can Be Deployed Today**

It’s easy to think of quantum as a technology that will be delivered in the distant future, but the transition to a quantum-secure future is already underway, with the combined market for classical and quantum communications estimated to reach $10 billion by 2030, according to [Boston Consulting Group](https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/are-you-ready-for-quantum-communications). 

Case in point: Quantum networking is already being tested over commercial-grade optical fiber infrastructure. We’re making it happen in [New York](https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2023/september/nyu-takes-quantum-step-in-establishing-cutting-edge-tech-hub-in-.html) and other cities around the world are committing and testing infrastructure – even [undersea](https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/research/quantum-communications-underwater-cable/), between the UK and Ireland. At IQT we debuted our rack-mounted QU-SOURCE and QU-APC, both branded in our signature Qunnect hot pink color – because, as warm atom evangelists, “we like it hot!” 

**Collaboration Remains Critical**

Based on how the classical internet developed, we know that building a global quantum internet will require a community of students, scientists, engineers, etc., contributing technologies and pushing the boundaries. It’s why we’re excited for initiatives like the Quantum Internet Alliance’s [Quantum Internet Application Challenge](https://quantuminternetalliance.org/2023/09/08/qia-launches-quantum-internet-application-challenge/), which encouraged ideas that harness the potential of quantum networks.

In another example, the European Commission is working with all 27 EU member states and the European Space Agency on its [EuroQCI initiative](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-quantum-communication-infrastructure-euroqci), which aims to build QKD networks that will span the whole EU. Single photon detectors for telecom wavelengths are a critical component to these future networks, and [Aurea Technology](https://www.aureatechnology.com/en/), [Single Quantum](https://singlequantum.com/) and [ID Quantique](https://www.idquantique.com/), all of whom exhibited at IQT, are improving their product offerings to meet the anticipated demand from the EU. 

**Bring More People into the Fold**

In the same vein that collaboration among academia, the private sector, and government agencies will lead to greater adoption of quantum, we also need diverse voices to help drive these commercial innovations across the global economy. Our investor SandboxAQ recently launched an [upskilling initiative with EY](https://www.sandboxaq.com/post/bridging-the-aq-divide-upskilling-workers-for-ai-and-quantum-opportunities) to address the growing demand for AI and quantum professionals. On a smaller scale, Qunnect also sponsored three New York University students majoring in STEM to attend IQT New York. The quantum industry needs to continue to invest more in training and education as we build a sustainable, inclusive ecosystem.

I was excited to see the scientific and engineering work being done to make quantum networking not only commercial, but practical. As our CSO Mehdi Namazi reminded us in his keynote talk, no one had any idea what applications the digital internet would reap in the 1970s. We are excited to be part of the solution to unlocking the potential of the next revolution in networking.

Autumn in New York Means Quantum

The quantum internet is closer than you think. In fact, if you were near New York University’s Manhattan campus a few weeks ago, there’s a chance you were walking above quantum particles flowing through fibers connected to Brooklyn’s Navy Yard under the city streets.

That’s because today we [announced](https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2023/september/nyu-takes-quantum-step-in-establishing-cutting-edge-tech-hub-in-.html) an industry-defining milestone, in collaboration with NYU’s [Center for Quantum Information Physics (CQIP)](https://as.nyu.edu/departments/physics/research/center-for-quantum-information-physics.html): we sent quantum information through standard telecom fiber in New York City, using Qunnect’s quantum-secure networking technology. This opens the door for customers in financial services, critical infrastructure, and telecom in the New York metropolitan area to pilot quantum technologies.

During this test, we successfully distributed and preserved entanglement between two remote, independent locations, at a rate of 15,000 pairs/second over 10 miles of real fiber, with 99% uptime and no cryogenic detectors – a breakthrough that advances the next generation of networking protocols for quantum communications. The test was conducted on Qunnect’s GothamQ, a quantum network built with commercial fiber optic cable with a node connecting to NYU’s campus in Manhattan. 

**We are the first company that has successfully distributed entanglement at this performance level on existing telecom infrastructure.**


The team used the following [Qunnect products](https://www.qunnect.inc/products) during the demonstration:

- QU-SOURCE injected highly pure, polarization-entangled qubits into the GothamQ fibers
- QU-LOCK stabilized the lasers driving QU-SOURCE with atomic precision 
- QU-APC actively compensated for noise in the fiber channel, maintaining transmission fidelities of >95% with >99% uptime. 

Analogous to noise-canceling headphones, the QU-APC device sampled the real-time noise in the fiber and calculated a correction signal. This enabled GothamQ to preserve the fragile entangled qubits underlying all quantum-secure protocols at unprecedented and sustainable rates, and marks the first time an active stabilization technology for quantum has been used on telecom fiber. 

**Why is this important?**

By leveraging the laws of quantum physics to protect data, quantum communications will revolutionize cybersecurity and transform the Internet. One of the phenomena that quantum networks seek to take advantage of is entanglement, in which two particles link together no matter how far apart they are in space; products are being developed that use entanglement to extend the range of quantum networks. 

Entangled qubits, or quantum bits, are notoriously delicate, and the slightest interaction with their surroundings, like temperature changes and vibrations from buried fiber, can distort them. For this test with NYU, we deployed two QU-APC instruments at our lab in Brooklyn and at NYU to preserve the high rate of entanglement. 

Our work with NYU underscores the power of Qunnect’s product suite to enable quantum communications to solve real-world challenges. New York City is home to one of the world’s densest ecosystems of finance, critical infrastructure and communications infrastructure that stands to benefit from the realization of improved security. But this density presents an equally daunting number of deployment and scaling challenges. Now that we have successfully demonstrated sustained delivery of high-quality entangled qubits over 10 miles of real fiber, the roadmap for scaling from two nodes towards a full metropolitan network in cities around the world has become much clearer. As Frank Sinatra sang, “If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. It's up to you. New York, New York… ”

Qunnect’s GothamQ testbed serves as a unique real-world laboratory for piloting protocols and use cases with both academic and industry partners. Drop us a [line](https://www.qunnect.inc/contact) if you’re interested in learning more.

Entangled State of Mind in Lower Manhattan

Quantum technology has made incredible strides in the last few years, and we can think of no better time to come together and celebrate than on World Quantum Day. April 14, or “4.14,” marks the rounded first 3 digits of Planck’s constant, a crucial value in quantum mechanics that is used to describe the behavior of particles at the subatomic level.

It’s also a day of several exciting announcements in our work towards enabling the quantum internet:

- We proudly opened our doors to a new R&D facility and network research hub in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This space serves as the home of GothamQ, the first quantum network built on existing telecom fiber and dedicated to the practical distribution of useful entanglement. 
- We’re building out our [core product suite](https://www.qunnect.inc/products)  and introduced QU-Source, a key component to enabling entanglement swapping protocols on real telecom fiber. QU-Source is the first entanglement source to produce exceptionally pure polarization photon pairs at high rates with sub GHz linewidths. Like our quantum memory, we’ve designed this for the real world, which means it operates at room temperature and is compatible with both telecom and atomic-based quantum devices. 

We published a manuscript on ArXiv describing the underlying physics of QU-Source, and you can read that [here](https://www.qunnect.inc/files/qu-source.pdf). For more on today’s news, check out our [press release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qunnect-unveils-rd-facility-and-gothamq-network-research-hub-at-brooklyn-navy-yard-301797037.html). 

We’re hosting an open house today where guests can tour the new space and see GothamQ in action. Follow along on our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/qunnectinc) feed to join in on the fun. 

[World Quantum Day](https://worldquantumday.org) is a celebration of science, and we are proud to contribute and help unlock ways companies can use quantum technology. Quantum networking is the next wave of change and promises to fundamentally alter how data is sent and received. Stay tuned as we continue to innovate and define the standards and protocols of the quantum internet.

Blog