German Chancellor visits photon source for quantum communication at the Digital Summit 2020

At this year's Digital Summit in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a photon source. It is the heart of a new type of communication technology that is currently being researched at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena – namely quantum communication.

Data security and data sovereignty increasingly in focus

“Digitalization has long since penetrated all aspects of our living and working environments. The Internet and our communication networks form the backbone of today's digital society,” explained Andreas Tünnermann, director of Fraunhofer IOF, during a virtual exhibit presentation in conversation with the German Chancellor.

Due to this enormous importance, the security of data networks and data sovereignty are increasingly coming to the fore for society as a whole. In this context, Tünnermann referred to the research framework program “Self-Determined and Secure in the Digital World”, which had already been initiated by Merkel's cabinet in 2015.

Trust in current encryption is dwindling

Against the background of the latest technical and social developments, however, trust in current encryption methods based on mathematics is increasingly dwindling. “This uncertainty can hinder growth,” Tünnermann says. “Overcoming it, on the contrary, can become a locational advantage and a unique selling point of a data room in Germany and Europe.”

To this end, the "QuNET" program, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and three major German research communities -- the Fraunhofer Society, the German Aerospace Center and the Max Planck Society -- is focusing on researching quantum communication in order to establish the latest communication standards. The laws of quantum physics make it possible to place the security of data networks on a new foundation.

The photon source: Core of quantum communication

The photon source presented at the Digital Summit is a key element of certain approaches to quantum communication. It generates entangled photon pairs, whose so-called “spooky action” - as Einstein once put it - is the basis for the advantages of highly secure quantum communication.

The Chancellor expressed interest in the possibilities of tap-proof communication and asked when this new technology would be used in the future. In this context, Andreas Tünnermann pointed out that transmission units for quantum keys are currently already being implemented in conventional fiber optic communication lines.

This year's Digital Summit took place on December 1, 2020 in Berlin as a virtual event.