UQ PhD candidate and experimental physicist Michael Kewming has created his own quantum alphabet to encode and send hidden messages by using photons, the shape of light’s smallest particles.
This research can transform the way people transmit and share information on a daily basis.
“One day we can create new, innovative ways of sharing sensitive information, via secret and secure communication networks, protected by the principles of quantum mechanics,” says Mr Kewming.
However there are still some challenges. Current fibre optic technology cannot be used, and as the alphabet continues expanding, the physical size of the photon gets bigger.
"It can become so large that it no longer fits in my experiment," he says.