QuaNTUM: A Modular Quantum Communication Testbed for Scalable Fiber and Satellite Integration
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.11314 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 11 Mar 2026] Title:QuaNTUM: A Modular Quantum Communication Testbed for Scalable Fiber and Satellite Integration Authors:Julien Chénedé, Tjorben Matthes, Josefine Krause, Asli Cakan, Tobias Vogl View a PDF of the paper titled QuaNTUM: A Modular Quantum Communication Testbed for Scalable Fiber and Satellite Integration, by Julien Ch\'ened\'e and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Secure communication is essential for modern society, from financial transactions to critical infrastructure. As classical encryption faces threats from advancing computational power, quantum communication provides a fundamentally secure alternative based on physical laws. We present QuaNTUM (Quantum Network at the Technical University of Munich), a modular and extensible quantum communication testbed enabling scalable experiments across fiber-based campus networks and satellite-ground links. The terrestrial network connects research institutions in Garching near Munich via single-mode fibers in a star topology with polarization-maintaining components, multiplexers, and time-synchronized analysis modules. Active polarization control and real-time feedback support stable qubit transmission for high-fidelity quantum key distribution and entanglement distribution. A key feature is the integration of deterministic solid-state single-photon sources, including defects in hexagonal boron nitride and excited erbium atoms, with initial deployments on small satellites to bridge terrestrial and free-space channels. As an open-access platform, QuaNTUM enables protocol development, device benchmarking, and hybrid network research, providing a foundation for scalable quantum communication and future global quantum networks. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Applied Physics (physics.app-ph); Optics (physics.optics) Cite as: arXiv:2603.11314 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.11314v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.11314 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Journal reference: Proc. QUEST-IS 2025, Commun. Comput. Inf. Sci. (CCIS) 2743, 103-112 (Springer, 2026) Related DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13852-1_12 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Julien Chénedé [view email] [v1] Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:22:12 UTC (309 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled QuaNTUM: A Modular Quantum Communication Testbed for Scalable Fiber and Satellite Integration, by Julien Ch\'ened\'e and 4 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: physics physics.app-ph physics.optics References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)