On February 6, 2026, the internationally authoritative academic journals Nature and Science simultaneously published important research results from the University of Science and Technology of China. Academician Pan Jianwei's team and collaborators announced that they have successfully constructed the world's first scalable quantum relay basic module, achieving long-distance high fidelity entanglement between single atomic nodes for the first time, and breaking the transmission distance of device independent quantum key distribution beyond 100 kilometers on this basis. This series of breakthroughs marks a crucial step towards humanity's grand goal of building a global quantum network.

Breaking through key bottlenecks and building a quantum relay core module

Faced with the global challenge of quantum signal attenuation with distance in optical fiber transmission, the research team has taken a different approach by systematically developing long-lived trapped ion quantum memory, high-efficiency ion photon communication interface, and high fidelity single photon entanglement protocol. For the first time, they have achieved long-lived quantum entanglement with entanglement lifetime significantly exceeding the time required for entanglement establishment. This achievement fundamentally solves the core contradiction of quantum entanglement's "short lifetime and insufficient time to connect" in the past, and successfully constructs the basic functional module of scalable quantum relays. According to theoretical calculations, based on this technology, the efficiency of quantum entanglement distribution in 1000 kilometers of optical fiber in the future will be astonishingly 10 trillion times higher than direct transmission.

Realize atomic level entanglement and break the record for quantum key transmission

On the basis of building the core module, the research team further demonstrated its powerful application potential. They successfully achieved high fidelity quantum entanglement between two rubidium atomic nodes that are far apart using scalable quantum relay technology. This micro scale 'distant resonance' is the foundation for building future quantum computing node networks. What is even more remarkable is that the team, based on this long-distance entanglement, has for the first time advanced the transmission distance of "device independent quantum key distribution", the most secure secure secure communication technology to date, to the level of hundreds of kilometers. Compared with the previous international best level, this distance improvement has exceeded two orders of magnitude, greatly promoting the technology from laboratory to practical application.

From theory to reality, opening a new era of quantum Internet

The ultimate goal of quantum networks is to achieve efficient and secure global information transmission and processing. It can not only achieve absolute secure communication that cannot be eavesdropped through quantum key distribution, but also achieve direct information exchange between quantum computers through quantum teleportation. This research achievement, for the first time, overcomes the key theoretical and technological barriers to building large-scale and scalable quantum networks, transforming fiber based long-distance quantum networks from a beautiful scientific concept to a feasible technological blueprint. The research team said that this series of breakthroughs marked a new milestone for mankind in exploring the practical way of quantum communication, and laid a solid scientific foundation for building the global quantum Internet in the future. Keywords: New News, Latest News, New News, Latest News

This research was jointly completed by Pan Jianwei, Wang Ye, Bao Xiaohui, Zhang Qiang, Wan Yong and other research backbones from the University of Science and Technology of China, as well as experts and scholars from multiple domestic and foreign institutions, demonstrating China's sustained innovation capability and leading position in the forefront of quantum information technology.Editor/Gao Xue