MIT researchers have developed a small device that can generate highly correlated microwave signals at room temperature. The approach could make quantum-based radar, sensing and secure wireless communication easier to build without large and expensive cooling systems.
The research was published in Nature Electronics. The team used a magnetic film and microwave resonator to create linked signals and demonstrated a way to use them to securely transmit information.
The new device generates pairs of microwave signals that remain strongly connected even though each signal appears random on its own. These linked signals can help communication systems recover information even when there is noise or interference.
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The same type of correlated signals are also useful for high-precision radar and sensing. Until now, many systems that generate these signals have relied on superconducting circuits that need extremely low temperatures.
The research was led by Qiuyuan Wang, EECS graduate student at MIT, with senior author Luqiao Liu, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also contributed to the work. The study was published in Nature Electronics.
Quantum microwave technologies often need superconducting circuits that operate at temperatures close to absolute zero. Keeping these systems cold requires large cryogenic equipment that can be expensive and difficult to scale.
This creates a major barrier to using quantum microwave technology outside specialized laboratories. The MIT team wanted to find a way to generate useful correlated signals without relying on this cooling equipment.
The researchers placed a thin magnetic film inside a microwave resonator, a metal structure that traps electromagnetic energy. The magnetic material interacts with microwave energy and creates two linked signals with different frequencies.
The system uses magnons, which are small packets of magnetic energy. By coupling the magnetic film with microwave photons, the researchers created hybrid waves that produce two separated but strongly correlated signals.
The researchers tested the system by encoding a small image into the frequency of one microwave signal. The image could be recovered using the matching partner signal.
The idea is that someone intercepting only one signal would not have enough information to recover the message. The researchers also say the system could help receivers recover data that has been affected by random interference.
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The technology could eventually support secure wireless communication, high-precision radar and sensing systems. It could also be useful for quantum simulators, which are designed to study complex physical systems that are difficult for traditional computers to model.
Because the device works at room temperature, it could potentially make these systems smaller, cheaper and easier to scale than approaches that depend on cryogenic cooling.
The device is still at the research stage. The team has demonstrated the generation of correlated microwave signals and a small secure-communication experiment, but larger systems will need further development and testing.
The researchers are now working on a scalable version of the platform and studying other possible applications for the technology.
Generating correlated microwave signals without bulky cooling equipment could remove an important barrier for quantum-inspired communication and sensing systems. It could also help researchers explore microwave technologies in settings where cryogenic equipment is not practical.
The work points toward future systems that combine magnetic materials and microwave electronics to process signals with greater resilience and precision. Possible applications include secure communications, radar, sensing and quantum simulation.
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