The technological emergence of quantum communication: A bibliometric analysis

Quantum communication is a key to information security, which has a wide range of applications in military, financial, and social development. Understanding the technological emergence in advance would contribute to gain full socio-economic benefits and reducing risk. This research attempts to explore the emergence of quantum communication from the bibliometric perspective. By analyzing the patent from the Derwent Innovation Index, this research analyzes the development phase, the technology emergence, the main contributors' network, the distribution of regions, and technology categories of quantum communication. The results show that quantum communication is in the growth phase according to the theory of the technology life cycle. China, the United States, and Japan are the leading countries. This research also identifies the main patent assignees and their collaboration networks. By introducing the technological emergence indicators, this research identifies four emerging topics in quantum communication and analyzes the layout of main patent assignees within these topics. This research would contribute to the endeavour of scientific communities toward the development of quantum communication.