The Next Wave for Quantum Wi-Fi
Stony Brook builds quantum laser ‘Wi-Fi’ across Long Island Sound, extending America’s largest quantum network
By Jess Stallone
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of scientific research to solve perplexing problems, Stony Brook University (SBU) is taking a giant step forward. It is partnering with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Yale University to build a free-space optical (FSO) link, a type of wireless communication system that uses a laser or LED beam to transmit data.
Akin to quantum laser Wi-Fi, the FSO link will send entangled light particles through the air between rooftop telescopes to enable secure, high-speed quantum communication. This will add a wireless component to the existing (and America’s largest) wired quantum communication network between SBU, BNL and partner Columbia University. This expansion includes two free-space connections that span approximately 12 miles from SBU to BNL and more than 30 miles across Long Island Sound toward Yale, demonstrating the benefits of wireless connections to reach locations lacking wired infrastructure, such as remote islands or even space satellites.
“Scientific research is about tackling great challenges and solving problems that seem impossible,” said Eden Figueroa, Stony Brook Presidential Innovation Endowed Professor and Director of SBU’s Center for Distributed Quantum Processing.
“We are building a super-secure wireless quantum network that connects to our wired system, providing communication that is fast and safe, protected by the laws of physics.”
A quantum-laser transmitter, or FSO telescope, is being built on the roof of the Health Sciences Center at Stony Brook University. Its receiver telescopes are located at both BNL, constructed inside a rooftop enclosure, and Yale, currently being built on the roof of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium, creating a direct, highly efficient channel for entanglement distribution that connects free space to fiber cables.
Eden Figueroa holds the patent for a breakthrough technology that allows SBU to store quantum information at room temperature using atomic systems such as rubidium vapor.
Once the system is built, the final phase will involve a carefully choreographed sequence to achieve quantum connection. First, infrared beams will be used to bounce off the mirrors until the telescopes achieve precise alignment. Next, a timing beam will sequence through pulses to synchronize each telescope. Finally, an entangled pair of photons will be transmitted from SBU to the two receiving telescopes at Yale and BNL in a free-space entanglement experiment.
Figueroa’s project, which seeks to send quantum signals wirelessly across Long Island Sound, echoes ambitions of the neighboring former laboratory of Nikola Tesla, whose famous Wardenclyffe Tower on Long Island was the unfulfilled prototype for a global wireless communication and power system. Figueroa and Tesla shared the same objective: eliminating the need for costly physical infrastructure by harnessing the atmosphere for long-distance, high-impact communication.
“This is an incredibly exciting time and an exciting experiment because it represents a critical juncture between decades of basic science advances and the practical application of quantum science and technology,” said Kevin Gardner, vice president for research and innovation. “The preparation and receipt of patents for these new technologies that hold such promise for secure communication is similar terrain that Tesla traversed as he sought to bring new technologies based on fundamental research to the world — technologies that we rely on every day some 100 years later.”
The groundbreaking nature of this quantum communication project has attracted significant support, securing the university’s future in quantum research. In September 2025, SBU received two major funding awards: a $300 million investment by New York State and a $4 million National Science Foundation grant. This funding will be in support of establishing a new Quantum Research and Innovation Hub and the continued growth of the ten-node quantum network.
The quantum network already spans 170 miles of fiber optic cables across five public data centers on Long Island, connecting quantum processing units at Stony Brook, BNL and Columbia. And with the new wireless link, the network will be expanded to include Yale when the connections are scheduled to open by the end of spring 2026.
Dimitrios Katramatos, a computer scientist and staff scientist with a joint appointment at both SBU and BNL, said, “It takes a close collaboration of different disciplines who can work together on intricate details of the network, especially on commercial equipment being used over long distances that was never meant to work like this before.”
Katramatos exemplifies this synergy, having designed the remote-control mechanisms for the optical electronics that triangulate photon direction, record precise measurements and facilitate quantum memory storage.
The laser shot across Long Island Sound is aiming for 25-inch mirrors, a tricky endeavor because the system has to correct for natural phenomena such as humidity, fog, air turbulence and rain that can distort light. The telescopes handle this by being kept isolated from any vibration and using special motors to perfectly adjust their position. To link the rooftop telescopes and track every moving photon, the quantum data processing computers must be precisely timed within ten picoseconds (a picosecond is equivalent to ten-trillionths of a second), a feat made possible by technology developed at Stony Brook using atomic interfaces with light-speed precision.
Rishikesh Gokhale, a PhD candidate at Stony Brook specializing in classical and quantum optics, explained, “We are literally laying the groundwork for a future quantum internet, where information can be transmitted securely and instantaneously over vast distances. Being part of a team that blends cutting-edge quantum physics with real-world engineering is both challenging and deeply rewarding.”
Stony Brook’s telescope is currently being built in the Physics Building on West Campus and will be transported to the roof of the Health Sciences Center on the university’s East Campus by spring 2026.
“Stony Brook is the place where breakthroughs have been made and many top researchers have wished to come,” according to Department of Physics and Astronomy Chair Chang Kee Jung. “With the continuing strong and strategic support from New York state, the department is poised to make even greater advances, such as realizing quantum internet.”
Read more about SBU’s groundbreaking quantum discoveries in our companion story, A Legacy of Quantum.
Pictured in the top photo, from left to right: Guodong Cui, postdoctoral associate; Samet Demircan, PhD candidate; and Rishikesh Gokhale, PhD student building the FSO telescope at SBU.