Another international success for the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology: A research team from the Optical Quantum Technologies Competence Unit at AIT’s Center for Digital Safety & Security, led by photonics expert and former ERC grant recipient Bernhard Schrenk, has received prestigious recognition with the acceptance of a post-deadline paper at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC). The conference took place in Málaga, Spain, in September 2026 and is one of the world’s leading events for optical telecommunications and data center technologies.
In their scientific paper entitled “Optical Fi-Wi QKD Exchange with Monolithic QKD Transmitter”, presented by lead author Florian Honz, the research team demonstrates an innovative approach to secure quantum communication. The demonstration successfully established a cryptographic key exchange between a miniaturized, monolithically integrated silicon-based quantum key distribution (QKD) transmitter and a corresponding receiver at an edge-cloud node.
The demonstration combines a short-range optical wireless connection with the seamless transmission of quantum signals over a 32-kilometer fiber-optic backhaul within a 6G network. Inspired by a mobile application scenario, the approach enables secure key exchange across different communication infrastructures.
Furthermore, the team demonstrated that the technology operates reliably at temperatures of up to 80°C and that quantum communication can coexist with radio-frequency-based data transmission over a hybrid fiber-wireless connection.
International Recognition for Cutting-Edge Research
Post-deadline papers showcase the latest groundbreaking scientific and technological advances and are considered among the most prestigious contributions at leading international conferences such as ECOC and the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC).
With approximately 2,400 participants attending its scientific conference program alongside a major technical exhibition, ECOC is the world’s second-largest conference dedicated to optical telecommunications and data center technologies.
The acceptance of this contribution highlights AIT’s internationally recognized expertise in photonics and optical quantum technologies, as well as its important role in developing secure, high-performance communication networks for the future.