Silicon breakthrough may provide the foundation for a global quantum internet.

UBC researchers have proposed a solution to a major challenge in quantum networking: a device that can convert microwave signals to optical signals and back again.

This technology could act as a universal translator for quantum computers, allowing them to communicate across long distances. It can convert up to 95 percent of a signal with almost no added noise, and it fits entirely on a silicon chip—the same material used in everyday computers.