In the USA, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech have developed a quantum detector that could improve the performance of optical communication systems by expanding the transmission distance of signals. The detector, which is based on a superconducting nanowire, can detect single photons of light with high efficiency and low noise. This makes it well-suited for use in quantum communication, where information is encoded in individual photons.

The researchers demonstrated the detector's performance by using it to receive a laser signal transmitted over a distance of 20 km. This could enable the development of more efficient and secure communication systems and improve the performance of satellite-based instruments that rely on optical signals.