NIST awards $2M to UR, RIT to expand Rochester Quantum Network

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology is investing $2 million in researchers at the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology to expand the capabilities of the Rochester Quantum Network, or RoQNET, positioning the region at the forefront of next-generation quantum communications. 

The funding, secured through the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill with support from Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Joe Morelle, will support new experiments aimed at advancing how quantum information is shared across fiber-optic infrastructure. 

RoQNET was installed in 2024, linking the two campuses via 11 miles of fiber-optic telecommunications lines. In 2025, researchers successfully demonstrated the secure transmission of single photons between the universities. Because quantum information encoded in individual particles of light cannot be copied or intercepted without detection, the system offers unprecedented levels of security — a critical feature as governments, financial institutions and technology firms prepare for a post-quantum cybersecurity landscape. 

With the new federal funding, researchers will move into more advanced experiments designed to distribute entangled photons across the network. Quantum entanglement, which is a phenomenon in which two particles share linked properties regardless of distance, is considered foundational to building scalable quantum networks. 

Nickolas Vamivakas, the Marie C. Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Optical Physics at URochester, said the next phase will test whether entanglement can be maintained between photons located on separate campuses. 

“One of these entangled photon pairs will live at RIT and one will live at URochester, and we aim to maintain that entanglement across RoQNET,” he said, noting that success could eventually enable distributed quantum computing and dramatically improved sensing technologies, including higher-resolution space telescopes. 

RoQNET stands out among experimental quantum networks globally because it operates over conventional fiber-optic lines — the same type of infrastructure already deployed worldwide. That compatibility could significantly reduce barriers to commercial-scale deployment. 

The collaboration also leverages complementary strengths. UR brings expertise in quantum memory hardware, while RIT contributes advanced quantum photonic integrated-circuit light sources.  

Stefan Preble, RIT’s Bausch and Lomb Professor and PhD program director of microsystems engineering, said the team is focused on achieving “heterogeneous entanglement” between different types of qubits, which is a key milestone for next-generation quantum networking technologies. 

Beyond research advancement, the grant will fund new hardware to give high school, undergraduate and graduate students hands-on experience with quantum optics and networking systems. 

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