wiredInUSA May 2020

Light research Cables keep out the cold

Image courtesy of Sumitomo Electric

Researchers at NTT have developed awide- band, high performance quantum light source (squeezed light source) that could be used for optical quantum computer chips operating at room temperature. The team has found that squeezed light has compressed quantum noise that can be used to create quantumentanglement. The light source can output continuous-wave wide-bandwidth high level squeezed light. The light source can also increase the clock frequency of the quantum computer itself, with implications for high speed quantum computation. NTT said the researchers have succeeded in compressing over 75% of the quantum noiseby usingahighperformancenonlinear optical waveguide, fabricated by NTT, and the high quality optical control and measurement technology of the University of Tokyo. For the next stage, the research team aims to demonstrate the generation of large- scale entanglement states and optical quantum operations to develop universal quantum computers using wide-band squeezed light. Experimental setup for squeezing level measurement. Image courtesy of NTT

Sumitomo Electric Industries has a range of flame-retardant cables suitable for severe cold environments down to −40°C. The company received an order for 400km of cables in 2016, via Kawasaki Heavy Industries, for a gas-to-gasoline (GTG) plant in Turkmenistan. The cables were manufactured and delivered by a Sumitomo Electric group company, PT Sumi Indo Kabel Tbk (SIK). The cables have been in operation in severe cold environments since 2019, the launch of theGTGoperation that is the only one of its kind in the world. Turkmenistan is located in the southwestern part of central Asia, where temperatures can be as high as 40°C to 50°C in summer, and below freezing in winter. The difference in temperatures is large, not only over the year, season to season, but also over the course of a day, daytime to nighttime, and with very severe weather conditions. Sumitomo Electric developed the new cables by addressing the composition of the coating material. Conventional highly flame-retardant cables could break the jacket if used in cold environments of around −15°C, depending on the wiring condition. Sumitomo Electric’s new cables, however, do not break the jacket even in the harsh environment of −40°C, retaining high flame retardancy (IEC 60332-3-24).

wiredInUSA - May 2020

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