SECURITY WITH QUANTUM PRECISION

Quantum technology is increasingly moving from science fiction into everyday reality. The technology offers many possibilities for faster and more secure communication. But how do we ensure that our hardware is ready for this technology, which is based on the laws of physics instead of computing power? UT spin-off QSA Technology is taking a step in the right direction with photonic chips with a unique physical structure. CEO Naomi Braam explains how it works.

Imagine: a secure connection needs to be established between two devices that share an optical link, for example, a line-of-sight or fiber optic connection between two servers or satellites. If you use Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for this, the encryption is not sent as a traditional message, but in the form of quantum particles (photons). This allows you to know when someone is trying to intercept the signal, because it leaves traces in the photons. Much more secure than a traditional connection, but how do you know if you're connecting to the right hardware on the other end? Naomi: "This is a major problem. QKD lacks that check to ensure you're connecting to the right person. So we wondered what we could develop to make quantum communication secure."

Fingerprint for hardware

Meanwhile, UT researcher Pepijn Pinkse's department had also been working on this for years, in collaboration with Boris Škorić from TU/e, among others. This resulted in four patents. "Together with Daan Stellinga (CTO), we then explored how we could implement this as a company," says Naomi. The result was QSA Technology. “We saw that a gap had arisen in QKD when it came to hardware authentication. What we are now validating are photonic chips as Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs). You can think of them as a kind of optical fingerprint. The security is therefore based on physical properties that can be read optically, instead of passwords. This way, each device with our chip has a unique identifier, making a secure connection easier to verify. This is interesting for QKD systems, but we can also use this technology separately for transferring sensitive information.”

Uncloneable

With the 'quantum era' upon us, this innovation is more of a necessity than a luxury. "We add a security layer in the form of hardware security, making the device physically uncloneable," explains Naomi. We expect our technology to become a key building block in the field of authentication. Not only in quantum, but also in communication applications we already use, such as satellite communication and direct optical telecom links. Although we're not there yet, it could also be relevant for drone communication, so you can be absolutely sure you can initiate a secure connection.”

Perfect timing

In 2025, all the research, patents, and business ideas led to the founding of QSA Technology. "That was quite a natural process," says Naomi. "It was as if all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and the timing was perfect. It took about a year to set everything up, so we also used that time to engage with the industry to validate our idea. We're still working on that now—but as an official spin-off."

Contributing to the quantum future

An important first step towards their major goal: ensuring their technology becomes an essential security layer in optical communication. "Especially quantum communication," Naomi emphasizes. “That's the future, and we want to contribute to it. Looking at the modules we're developing now, I think we'll have achieved an exit in about ten years. Our technology lends itself primarily to integration into existing infrastructures. We first need to create more awareness in the market so our technology can truly take off.”