One-way Quantum Key Distribution Research Articles

Long-Distance Decoy-State Quantum Key Distribution in Optical Fiber

The theoretical existence of photon-number-splitting attacks creates a security loophole for most quantum key distribution (QKD) demonstrations that use a highly attenuated laser source. Using ultralow-noise, high-efficiency transition-edge sensor photodetectors, we have implemented the first version of a decoy-state protocol that incorporates finite statistics without the use of Gaussian approximations in a one-way QKD system, enabling the creation of secure keys immune to photon-number-splitting attacks and highly resistant to Trojan horse attacks over 107 km of optical fiber.

Unconditionally secure one-way quantum key distribution using decoy pulses

The authors report here a complete experimental realization of one-way decoy pulse quantum key distribution, demonstrating an unconditionally secure key rate of 5.51kbits∕s for a 25.3km fiber length. This is two orders of magnitudes higher than the value that can be obtained with a nondecoy system. They also introduce a simple test for detecting the photon number splitting attack and highlight that it is essential for the security of the technique to fully characterize the source and detectors used.

Practical quantum key distribution over 60 hours at an optical fiber distance of 20km using weak and vacuum decoy pulses for enhanced security

Experimental one-way decoy pulse quantum key distribution running continuously for 60 hours is demonstrated over a fiber distance of 20km. We employ a decoy protocol which involves one weak decoy pulse and a vacuum pulse. The obtained secret key rate is on average over 10kbps. This is the highest rate reported using this decoy protocol over this fiber distance and duration.

One-Way Quantum Key Distribution System Based on Planar Lightwave Circuits

We developed a one-way quantum key distribution (QKD) system based upon a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) interferometer. This interferometer is expected to be free from the backscattering inherent in commercially available two-way QKD systems and phase drift without active compensation. A key distribution experiment with spools of standard telecom fiber showed that the bit error rate was as low as 6% for a 100-km key distribution using an attenuated laser pulse with a mean photon number of 0.1 and was determined solely by the detector noise. This clearly demonstrates the advantages of our PLC-based one-way QKD system over two-way QKD systems for long distance key distribution.

Fast and simple one-way quantum key distribution

We present and demonstrate a new protocol for practical quantum cryptography, tailored for an implementation with weak coherent pulses to obtain a high key generation rate. The key is obtained by a simple time-of-arrival measurement on the dataline; the presence of an eavesdropper is checked by an interferometer on an additional monitoring line. The setup is experimentally simple; moreover, it is tolerant to reduced interference visibility and to photon number splitting attacks, thus featuring a high efficiency in terms of distilled secret bit per qubit.

Quantum key distribution over a fiber-optic channel by means of pulse position modulation

New methods are proposed for extending the range of fiber-optic one-way quantum key distribution (QKD), inspired by classical optical communication formats. A new time-domain technique based on pulse position modulation (PPM) is combined with differential phase-shift keying to optically implement a six-state protocol. Finally, some recently proposed PPM schemes are critically reviewed and applied to synthesize a new QKD asymmetric optical realization, applicable to local or metropolitan area networks.

Continuous operation of a one-way quantum key distribution system over installed telecom fibre

We demonstrate a robust, compact and automated quantum key distribution system, based upon a one-way Mach-Zender interferometer, which is actively compensated for temporal drifts in the photon phase and polarization. The system gives a superior performance to passive compensation schemes with an average quantum bit error rate of 0.87% and a duty cycle of 99.6% for a continuous quantum key distribution session of 19 hours over a 20.3km installed telecom fibre. The results suggest that actively compensated QKD systems are suitable for practical applications.