Abstract

Optical satellite links open up new prospects for realizing quantum physical experiments over unprecedented length scales. We demonstrate the feasibility of quadrature squeezing detection in satellite links using optical communication technology already in orbit. The detection process is complicated by the fact that the homodyne detectors aboard of satellites often provide an efficient resolution of only one bit. We show experimentally, that despite this extremal constraint quantum squeezing can still be detected efficiently. The required sample overhead compared to an ideal homodyne detector is only a factor of 3.3.

© 2018 The Author(s)