Quantum-Secure Communication in Practice: Michael Hahn from duotec in Interview
You won the Quantum Effects Award 2025 in the quantum communication & networks category. What has this award meant for duotec – for your company, your team, and your visibility in the market?
For us, the Quantum Effects Award 2025 is a very special honour. Our team put a great deal of energy into this project. The award confirms that we are working on the right topics and gives us additional motivation to keep pushing forward in this future-oriented field.
With your award-winning QKD sensor, you aim to shorten the path from research to application. What exactly is the idea behind this solution – in simple terms?
Our sensor is ideal for quantum-secure encryption: quantum key distribution. The principle is simple: you use light – photons – to transmit keys. Four polarisation directions of light are used for this. Photons are sent with a random polarisation direction and received at the other end. You repeat this very frequently, which gives you the basis for generating a key. Our sensor combines all four polarisation directions in a single component, and it is roughly the size of a one-cent coin.
At the trade fair last year, we already showed our prototype for a time tagger. With it, we can actually set a timestamp in the picosecond range for when the photon was received. Both are integral parts of QKD and belong closely together in the signal path. That is why our team went even one step further and combined the QKD sensor – equipped with signal conditioning and cooling – with the time tagger into a single integrable component.
When did you first have the feeling with this project: this is not just an exciting idea – it can actually become a real product?
When your team radiates unbridled enthusiasm for a topic, you should listen carefully. There must be something to it. They were brimming with ideas about everything you could do with it. So it quickly became clear that we needed to look into this more closely. And with Q-Day ahead of us, it was clear to us that we needed to be at the forefront.
Quantum communication is considered a future technology, but for many companies it is still hard to grasp. Where do you already see concrete applications today?
Whenever sensitive data is transmitted, you have to ask yourself how to protect that data from unauthorised access. Especially when transmitting data over the internet, this information can easily be intercepted and recorded. With QKD, you can already encrypt data today to ensure that it cannot be unlawfully decrypted in the future either.
In your view, what is needed for quantum communication to become ready for practical application more quickly – technologically, economically, and on the part of potential users?
First and foremost, it takes courage to put things into practice. We still need to gain a lot of hands-on experience before the technology will be widely adopted. Another aspect is miniaturisation. Think of satellites, for example. They are getting smaller and smaller. Technology that enables secure communication whilst also meeting size requirements is important.
What has actually happened at duotec since winning the Quantum Effects Award? Have there been new conversations, partnerships, or developments triggered by the award?
We could feel the impact straight away at Quantum Effects in Stuttgart. At the time, we had a stand at the trade fair together with EIN Quantum.NRW. After the award ceremony, the number of visitors increased significantly.
And let’s be honest. When you win an award, you are proud of it and you like to show it off. We were very happy to do so and naturally received a lot of recognition for it.
Many companies are interested in quantum-secure communication but are still hesitant to get started. What would you advise industrial users today?
Start with small steps and gather experience. Waiting is not an option. Data can already be intercepted today and decrypted at a later point in time. With the increase in computing power in the field of quantum computers, decryption within relevant timeframes is possible. Waiting until then to address the issue would be too late.
Looking ahead to Quantum Effects 2026: why is it worth it for companies, start-ups, and research institutions to apply for the Award now?
The application process alone is already worth it. It is great fun to look at your own new, innovative product from a different perspective. We had to think about how to communicate the impact when your target audience is not the customer. That generates a lot of new insights.
And then there is the thrill of waiting until you find out that you have won. A real sense of excitement swept through the company. My personal highlight was seeing the team on stage. That made me very proud. And I think the team felt the same way when they were up there. :-)
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