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Cranbury, N.J., October 10, 2005
Princeton Lightwave, Inc. (PLI), a manufacturer of high performance optical semiconductor components, announced that it has licensed IBM’s single-photon detection
(SPD) technology. An SPD is an essential component of quantum cryptography systems, which enable extremely secure communications even in the presence of eavesdropping.
Quantum cryptography systems are being developed for government and financial institutions and are expected to find widespread use. Single-photon detectors are also useful in a variety of optical and semiconductor test and measurement applications and in some areas of scientific research.
The IBM SPD technology was developed at its Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. with partial funding by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s
(DARPA) Quantum Information Science and Technology (QuIST) program. SPD units produced by IBM have been deployed successfully by QuIST participants in a prototype metro-area network.
Princeton Lightwave will continue development of the SPD technology by combining it with a recently announced
InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode (APD) that has been specifically optimized for single-photon counting performance. Integrating this photodetector with the IBM technology will provide customers with a high-performance solution for their single-photon counting applications.
“We are excited about the potential that IBM's technology has for the commercialization of SPD technology,” said Bruce
Nyman, VP System Solutions at Princeton Lightwave. “Our ability to design and manufacture a commercial single-photon counting APD together with IBM’s technology will further the development of practical quantum cryptography systems.”
“Princeton Lightwave is the logical choice to continue development of our SPD technology,” said Mark Dean, IBM Fellow and Vice President, Almaden Research Center. “Integrating the innovations of our two companies will help accelerate the move of quantum key distribution from the laboratory into real-world use, which will help us achieve our goal of enhancing data security.”
About quantum cryptography
Quantum cryptography (QC) was invented in 1984 by IBM Fellow Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard of the University of Montreal. It takes advantage of the quantum physics of light to allow two users to create a secure shared cryptographic key remotely over an insecure channel, such as an unguarded optical fiber. In QC, the sender transmits a series of single photons with randomly chosen states down the channel. The receiver uses analyzing optics and single-photon detectors to determine which states were sent. This state information is used to create a raw shared encryption key. Any eavesdropper's attempt to view, capture, or copy the photons would disturb their states in detectable ways, enabling the sender and receiver to estimate how much information about the raw key could have leaked. For small enough leaks, the sender and receiver can create a shorter final key from the raw key, about which the eavesdropper knows essentially nothing. If the sender and receiver determine that too much information about a raw key was possibly leaked, they discard it and try again, perhaps after checking the channel's integrity. Once data is encrypted with the secure key, only someone with the matching key can decipher it. As long as the key is used only once, the data will remain secure forever, despite any future advances in computational power or code-cracking algorithms that might occur.
The IBM SPD technology, which includes its transient-canceling circuit technology, has been tested in several leading laboratories and found to provide exceptionally high-speed, low-noise single-photon detection in a number of demanding applications, including quantum cryptography. PLI expects to improve this performance still further by incorporating its new
APD.
About Princeton Lightwave
Princeton Lightwave, Inc. manufactures and markets optical modules and subsystems for applications in optical networking and sensing markets. The Company provides complete solutions based on near infrared optical sources and detectors.
PLI has a core expertise in the design and manufacture of high-performance optical semiconductor components, such as high-power lasers, super-luminescent diodes and specialty detectors, as well as in hybrid optics and electronics packaging and module integration. These components leverage PLI’s experience with gallium
arsenide, indium phosphide and other advanced semiconductor materials. The Company applies its advanced packaging and manufacturing skills to create complex, high-performance optical assemblies with high reliability and suitable for volume production.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. The Almaden Research Center is one of IBM Research's eight labs located in six countries. With 3,000 scientists and engineers, IBM Research is the world's largest information technology research organization. IBM Research has a strong record in quantum information and computer security technology innovation. IBM scientists pioneered the field of quantum cryptography, and IBM holds several key patents, such as those for quantum key exchange and the architecture of the single photon detector to be commercialized by Princeton Lightwave.
Contacts:
PLI: Bruce Nyman (609-495-2560; bnyman@princetonlightwave.com
)
IBM: Mike Ross (408-927-1283; mikeross@almaden.ibm.com
)
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