Department of Physics and Astronomy<\/a> in the College of Arts and Sciences and a joint appointee at Brookhaven Lab. \u201cThis will provide a direct route to create entangled atomic systems across long distances.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/first-light-ceremony-bnl.jpg\" "\\"First")
From left: Empire State Development Board Chairman Kevin Law, Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith, Brookhaven National Laboratory Director John Hill, Secretary to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul Karen Persichilli Keogh and U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Dar\u00edo Gil. Photo by Kevin Coughlin\/Brookhaven National Laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtending our quantum communication network to include a wireless link is a major leap forward in our development of the Quantum Internet of Things,\u201d said Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled that our brilliant Stony Brook researchers, together with our partners at Brookhaven National Laboratory, have demonstrated impressive progress in overcoming the significant challenges of sending quantum information wirelessly via entangled photons. By unlocking wireless quantum connectivity and incorporating it into the world\u2019s only metropolitan-area network that supports quantum communication via entanglement, we are transforming secure data transmission while igniting Long Island as an innovation hub. We are profoundly grateful to our elected officials, Governor Hochul, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Rep. LaLota for their generous support and for securing investments in Long Island\u2019s quantum research. Ultimately, this places New York State at the forefront of quantum information science and its application to secure communication for finance, healthcare, and cybersecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building the FSO link<\/p>\n
In some ways, the classical internet\u2019s evolution from wired connections to a complex network of wired and wireless technologies provides a roadmap for reaching milestones toward a global quantum network. But the researchers also needed to draw on expertise from a seemingly unrelated field: astronomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s classical wireless technologies, including cell phones and orbiting satellites, use radio frequencies to transmit information without a physical connection. But radio frequencies are far too noisy to preserve fragile quantum information. Instead, the researchers turned to optical light for sending quantum signals through open air.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think of telescopes as tools for looking up into space, but the same technologies that allow astronomers to precisely collect and control light are essential for these quantum experiments,\u201d said Justine Haupt, Brookhaven Lab\u2019s lead scientist on the cross-institutional FSO link project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Video: At 12:26 am ET on Wednesday, Aug. 19, researchers at Brookhaven Lab\u2019s Quantum Lighthouse detected entangled photons arriving from Stony Brook\u2019s Quantum Watchtower. The graph\u2019s uptick on the far right around 0:37, coinciding with the \u201cEntanglement Source ON\u201d text, marks the arrival of entangled photons. (Brookhaven National Laboratory)<\/p>\n
Haupt and her colleagues at Brookhaven are experts when it comes to telescopes, having built key components for several high-profile astronomy projects. But because there is more turbulent atmosphere between Brookhaven Lab and Stony Brook University than there is between Earth and the stars, the scientists needed to develop technology sophisticated enough to ensure the photons could travel between institutions without becoming distorted or losing their fragile quantum information. But that was only one piece of a much larger puzzle.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Brookhaven and Stony Brook needed to build specialized rooftop facilities for the telescope systems that were optimized for quantum experiments,\u201d Haupt said. \u201cWe needed to integrate the optics, controls, communications, quantum sources, and detectors so equipment 21 kilometers apart could operate as one experiment. Bringing all those pieces together \u2014 and then adding the quantum layer \u2014 is what makes this capability unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York State is committed to investing in cutting-edge research and innovation in emerging fields that move our society forward,\u201d said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. \u201cThe partnership between the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory serves as an excellent example of how collaboration can advance discovery and create transformative technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead<\/p>\n
Yale\u2019s facility \u2014 the third leg of the FSO link \u2014\u00a0was recently completed, and the researchers will soon begin establishing the Stony Brook-Yale connection so they can also transmit entangled photons 30 miles (48 kilometers) across the Long Island Sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile completing this longer leg, the team is simultaneously moving toward one of our ultimate goals: transmitting quantum information through Earth\u2019s atmosphere to orbiting satellites,\u201d said Brookhaven Lab Associate Laboratory Director for Discovery Technologies Gabriella Carini. \u201cIncorporating satellites into the network could help bring secure quantum communications to rural or remote locations with minimal ground-based telecommunications infrastructure, transforming the quantum network from a regional one to a global one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Expanding beyond the limits of fiber also opens the door to new kinds of quantum experiments by enabling researchers to use photons with wavelengths, or \u201ccolors,\u201d different from the telecommunications wavelengths optimized for commercial fibers. Many quantum technologies naturally operate at these other wavelengths, making free-space links a promising path toward linking quantum devices across long distances. Researchers ultimately envision using the FSO link to connect quantum computers at Brookhaven and Stony Brook \u2014 and beyond \u2014\u00a0enabling them to work together and tackle some of the nation\u2019s most pressing scientific challenges.<\/p>\n
![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/first-light-goldsmith-bnl.jpg\" "\\"Quantum")
Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith speaking at the \u2018First Light\u2019 event August 21 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Photo by Kevin Coughlin\/Brookhaven National Laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrookhaven has long been at the forefront of quantum information science, and this achievement represents another important step in that journey,\u201d said Brookhaven Lab Director John Hill. \u201cThis free-space link is a key milestone in its own right, but it is also part of a much larger roadmap leading to distributed quantum systems. We will continue advancing the network\u2019s capabilities so that researchers can connect increasingly sophisticated quantum systems together to address a range of problems, from computation to communication to sensing, in ways that just aren\u2019t possible today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Secretary Gil\u2019s return to Brookhaven National Lab is another reminder that some of the world\u2019s most important scientific work is happening right here in Suffolk County,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota. \u201cQuantum research will play a major role in shaping the technologies we rely on every day, while strengthening our national security and ensuring America remains at the forefront of scientific innovation. At a time when Washington must spend taxpayer dollars wisely, I\u2019m focused on prioritizing smart, targeted investments in projects and partnerships at Brookhaven and Stony Brook that support good-paying Long Island jobs, advance groundbreaking research, and keep America leading the world in innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLong Island has long been home to some of the world\u2019s most important scientific institutions, and today\u2019s milestone demonstrates what is possible when those institutions work together,\u201d said Empire State Development Board Chairman and Stony Brook Council Chair Kevin Law. \u201cThe partnership between Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory is helping establish Long Island as a leader in quantum technology and positioning the region to attract talent, investment, and future economic growth for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The work at Brookhaven Lab is primarily supported by the DOE Office of Science. At Stony Brook University, the work is supported by the National Science Foundation and New York\u2019s Empire State Development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Dar\u00edo Gil (center) cuts the ribbon at the milestone August…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[271],"tags":[18,19,17,452,133],"class_list":["post-660999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-physics","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-physics","tag-science"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117173364246152043","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Quantum](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/quantum-watchtower-BNL-ribbon-1.jpg\" "\\"Quantum")
U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Dar\u00edo Gil (center) cuts the ribbon at the milestone August 21 quantum networking demonstration at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Joining him (from left) are Empire State Development Board Chairman Kevin Law, Brookhaven National Laboratory Director John Hill, Secretary to the Governor Karen Persichilli Keogh, Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith and Brookhaven Lab scientist Justine Haupt. (Kevin Coughlin\/Brookhaven National Laboratory)![\"Quantum](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/quantum-fso-map-1000px.jpg\" "\\"Quantum")
A map shows Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University and Yale University \u2014 the three institutions hosting facilities that form the free-space optical (FSO) link. The FSO link, used to transmit particles of light containing quantum information between institutions, adds a wireless component to the nation\u2019s longest quantum network. (Jennifer Abramowitz\/Brookhaven National Laboratory)<\/p>\n![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/first-light-eden-1.jpg\" "\\"First")
Eden Figueroa, director of Stony Brook\u2019s Quantum Institute and endowed presidential professor of physics, in the Stony Brook Watchtower. Photo by John Griffin.<\/p>\n