Stanford’s quantum entanglement device brings us one step closer to quantum cryptography

Researchers at Stanford University have taken another major step toward using quantum entanglement for communication, streamlining the process by which two particles can be forced into an entangled state. Once entangled, each should react to changes in the other’s quantum spin — if one switches from up-spin to down-spin, the other should hypothetically do the same, instantly and regardless of the distance between them. The study demonstrates a technique in which each particle is induced to emit a photon entangled to its parent. By funneling these photons down a fiber optic cable so that they collide somewhere in the middle, the system can force the two parents (still held at their respective sources) to become entangled to one other. While the pipe dream of a latency-free internet is enticing enough, a much more immediate application could be the next generation of data encryption.