Quantum stream cipher by the Yuen 2000 protocol: Design and experiment by an intensity-modulation scheme

Abstract

This paper shall investigate Yuen protocol, so called Y-00, which can realize a randomized stream cipher with high bit rate(Gbps) for long distance(several hundreds km). The randomized stream cipher with randomization by quantum noise based on Y-00 is called quantum stream cipher in this paper, and it may have security against known plaintext attacks which has no analog with any conventional symmetric key ciphers. We present a simple cryptanalysis based on an attacker's heterodyne measurement and the quantum unambiguous measurement to make clear the strength of Y-00 in real communication. In addition, we give a design for the implementation of an intensity modulation scheme and report the experimental demonstration of 1 Gbps quantum stream cipher through 20 km long transmission line.