Quantum Communication Networks Research Articles

Bright single-photon sources in the telecom band by deterministically coupling single quantum dots to a hybrid circular Bragg resonator

High-performance solid-state quantum sources in the telecom band are of paramount importance for long-distance quantum communications and the quantum Internet by taking advantage of a low-loss optical fiber network. Here, we demonstrate bright telecom-wavelength single-photon sources based on In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) deterministically coupled to hybrid circular Bragg resonators (h-CBRs) by using a wide-field fluorescence imaging technique. The QD emissions are redshifted toward the telecom O-band by using an ultra-low InAs growth rate and an InGaAs strain reducing layer. Single-photon emissions under both continuous wave (CW) and pulsed operations are demonstrated, showing high brightness with count rates of 1.14 MHz and 0.34 MHz under saturation powers and single-photon purities of g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) = 0.11 ± 0.02 (CW) and g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) = 0.087 ± 0.003 (pulsed) at low excitation powers. A Purcell factor of 4.2 with a collection efficiency of 11.2 % ± 1 % at the first lens is extracted, suggesting efficient coupling between the QD and h-CBR. Our work contributes to the development of highly efficient single-photon sources in the telecom band for fiber-based quantum communication and future distributed quantum networks.

Authenticated Multiparty Quantum Key Agreement for Optical-Ring Quantum Communication Networks

Quantum communication networks are connected by various devices to achieve communication or distributed computing for users in remote locations. In order to solve the problem of generating temporary session key for secure communication in optical-ring quantum networks, a quantum key agreement protocol is proposed. In the key agreement protocols, an attacker can impersonate a legal user to participate in the negotiation process and eavesdrop the agreement key easily. This is often overlooked in most quantum key agreement protocols, which makes them insecure in practical implementation. Considering this problem, the function of authenticating the user’s identity is added in the proposed protocol. Combining classical hash function with identity information, we design the authentication operation conforming to the characteristics of quantum search algorithm. In the security analysis of the proposed protocol, quantum state discrimination is utilized to show that the protocol is secure against common attacks and impersonation attack. In addition, only single photons need to be prepared and measured, which makes our protocol feasible with existing technology.

Manipulation of flying and single excitons by GHz surface acoustic waves

An important prerequisite for quantum communication networks is the transfer and manipulation of single particles on a chip as well as their interconversion to single photons for long-range information exchange. GHz acoustic waves are versatile tools for the implementation of these functionalities in hybrid quantum systems. In particular, flying excitons propelled by GHz surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can potentially satisfy this prerequisite. In this article, we review recent works on the application of GHz SAWs to realize flying excitons in semiconductor-based systems. Most importantly, we have identified suitable two-level centers for the storage of single excitons, thus forming single excitonic qubits, and interconverted them to single photons with a very high emission rate dictated by the GHz-SAW pumping. The work covered here paves the way for on-chip, exciton-based qubit manipulation.

The Progress and the state-of-art approaches of Quantum Teleportation and Communication

Quantum teleportation is a new technique utilized dispersed quantum entanglement to transmit information (i.e., the quantum states). In this paper, the principles and the protocol will be introduced systematically. Specifically, the experimental setups and the state-of-art applications will be discussed. According to the analysis, one can better understand the working principle and current development of quantum teleportation. However, the limitation of further applying the quantum teleportation is obvious the cost of building the QT infrastructure and the superconducting technology. Besides, it is also too expensive to achieve large-scale use and commercial promotion. In the future, QT will expand its industrial scale and build a national or even global quantum communication network. These results shed light on guiding further development for quantum teleportation important.

An improved quantum network communication model based on compressed tensor network states

An improved quantum network communication model based on compressed tensor network states

Tripartite Quantum Key Distribution Implemented with Imperfect Sources

Multipartite quantum key distribution (QKD) is a promising area of quantum networks that provides unconditional secret keys among multiple parties, enabling only legitimate users to decrypt the encrypted message. However, security proofs of existing multipartite QKD typically assume perfect state preparation devices of legitimate users and neglect the relative rotation of reference frames. These presumptions are, nevertheless, very difficult to meet in practice, and thus the security of current multipartite QKD implementations is not guaranteed. By combining the idea of a loss tolerant technique, introduced by Tamaki et al. (K. Tamaki et al., Phys. Rev. A, 90, 052314, 2014), and the concept of a reference frame-independent protocol, we propose a three-party QKD protocol that considers state preparation flaws and the slow drift of reference frames. Through a numerical simulation, the influence of misaliged reference frames on the protocol’s stability was examined by drifting reference frames through angles β=π/5, β=π/6 and β=π/7. In addition, the performance of the proposed protocol was examined for the encoding flaws set at δ=0.35, δ=0.20, and δ=0.10. The results show that the protocol is robust against state preparation flaws, and is insignificantly impacted by misalignment of the reference frames because the achieved transmission distances and secret key rates are comparable to the perfect scenarios. This work dramatically contributes toward the realization of practical and secure multipartite QKD. The proposed protocol has direct applications in quantum communication network environments that involve unknown and slowly varying reference frames, web conferences, and online communications.

Entanglement quantification from collective measurements processed by machine learning

This paper investigates how to reduce the number of measurement configurations needed for sufficiently precise entanglement quantification. Instead of analytical formulae, we employ artificial neural networks to predict the amount of entanglement in a quantum state based on results of collective measurements (simultaneous measurements on multiple instances of the investigated state). We consider collective measurement limited to two copies of the investigated state. This approach allows us to explore the precision of entanglement quantification as a function of measurement configurations in a relevant scenario for practical quantum communications. For the purpose of our research, we consider general two-qubit states and their negativity as entanglement quantifier. We outline the benefits of this approach in future quantum communication networks.

Building the quantum communication networks of the future

Turning young, but promising, technologies into a full-fledged quantum internet requires careful planning and foresight.

Macroscopic Mechanical Entanglement Stability in Two Distant Dissipative Optomechanical Systems

AbstractA theoretical scheme for the stable entanglement generation of two remote mechanical modes is introduced. Two identical optomechanical systems, each constituting a single‐mode optical field as well as a qubit and a moveable mirror driven by an external pump field, are considered. To make the model more realistic, atomic, photonic, and phononic dissipations are considered. The time‐dependent state of each subsystem is obtained, analytically. Then, by an appropriate Bell‐state measurement (BSM) on the state of the whole system (first approach), the entanglement of two mechanical modes is created. As a second parallel approach, appropriate atomic measurement is applied after the BSM. According to these numerical simulations via concurrence, the noteworthy features are as follows. There exists optimum value of photon–phonon coupling strength for obtaining the steady‐state entanglement; by choosing appropriate values of dissipation, photon–phonon coupling, and pump amplitude, a significant degree and stable entanglement between the two mechanical modes are accessible. The present scheme opens new practical perspectives in constructing stable entanglement between two remote mechanical modes and can be helpful to realize quantum memories for quantum information processing and establishing long‐distance quantum communication networks.

Twin-Field Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Based on Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing Technology

Quantum key distribution (QKD) generates information-theoretical secret keys between two parties based on the physical laws of quantum mechanics. Following the advancement in quantum communication networks, it becomes feasible and economical to combine QKD with classical optical communication through the same fiber using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology. This study proposes a detailed scheme of TF-QKD protocol with DWDM technology and analyzes its performance, considering the influence of quantum channel number and adjacent quantum crosstalk on the secret key rates. The simulation results show that the scheme further increases the secret key rate of TF-QKD and its variants. Therefore, this scheme provides a method for improving the secret key rate for practical quantum networks.

Multipartite quantum steering of symmetric and asymmetric structures based on four-wave mixing processes

In a quantum communication network, multipartite Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) steering has become an important resource and has attracted much attention because of its important role in quantum secret sharing and quantum secure communication. In this paper, we investigate the multipartite EPR steering characteristics of symmetric and asymmetric structures based on four-wave mixing (FWM) processes. Multipartite quantum steering, among the four output light fields produced by two structures, is theoretically analyzed. We find that both symmetric and asymmetric structures can verify Gaussian steered monogamous relationships, but the asymmetric structure produces stronger steering and has more flexibility to manipulate monogamous relationships. The results presented here may find potential applications in secure quantum information manipulation processes.

2\xd7N twin-field quantum key distribution network configuration based on polarization, wavelength, and time division multiplexing

Developing quantum key distribution (QKD) has been recently directed toward distance extension and network expansion for real-world secure communications. Considering a recent report on a quantum communication network over 4,600 km, it seems that QKD networks using conventional protocols have been sufficiently studied. However, although the twin-field QKD (TF-QKD) proposed for long-distance QKD has been studied deeply enough to succeed the demonstrations over 428- and 511-km deployed fibers, TF-QKD networks have been verified only for a ring network. In this work, we propose a star topological 2 × N TF-QKD network scheme, where the coherence maintenance issue, being the primary obstacle to implementing TF-QKD, can be minimized by the automatic mode-matching feature of the Sagnac-based plug-and-play architecture. A lower number of active controllers is required for our scheme in comparison with one-way TF-QKD networks. Moreover, our scheme adopts a cost-effective configuration that requires only a single pair of single-photon detectors for the entire network system. We conducted a proof-of-concept experiment over a 50-km fiber successfully, achieving an average secret key rate of 1.31 × 10−4 bit per pulse (1.52 bit per second) with the finite-size effect.

Optimal tests for continuous-variable quantum teleportation and photodetectors

Quantum teleportation is a primitive in several important applications, including quantum communication, quantum computation, error correction, and quantum networks. In this work, we propose an optimal test for the performance of continuous-variable (CV) quantum teleportation in terms of the energy-constrained channel fidelity between ideal CV teleportation and its experimental implementation. Work prior to ours considered suboptimal tests of the performance of CV teleportation, focusing instead on its performance for particular states, such as ensembles of coherent states, squeezed states, cat states, etc. Here we prove that the optimal state for testing CV teleportation is an entangled superposition of twin Fock states. We establish this result by reducing the problem of estimating the energy-constrained channel fidelity between ideal CV teleportation and its experimental approximation to a quadratic program and solving it. As an additional result, we obtain an analytical solution to the energy-constrained diamond distance between a photodetector and its experimental approximation. These results are relevant for experiments that make use of CV teleportation and photodetectors.

Breaking the Rate-Loss Bound of Quantum Key Distribution with Asynchronous Two-Photon Interference

Twin-field quantum key distribution can overcome the secret key capacity of repeaterless quantum key distribution via single-photon interference. However, to compensate for the channel fluctuations and lock the laser fluctuations, the techniques of phase tracking and phase locking are indispensable in experiment, which drastically increase experimental complexity and hinder free-space realization. Inspired by the duality in entanglement, we herein present an asynchronous measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution protocol that can surpass the secret key capacity even without phase tracking and phase locking. Leveraging the concept of time multiplexing, asynchronous two-photon Bell-state measurement is realized by postmatching two interference detection events. For a 1 GHz system, the new protocol reaches a transmission distance of 450 km without phase tracking. After further removing phase locking, our protocol is still capable of breaking the capacity at 270 km. Intriguingly, when using the same experimental techniques, our protocol has a higher key rate than the phase-matching-type twin-field protocol. In the presence of imperfect intensity modulation, it also has a significant advantage in terms of the transmission distance over the sending-or-not-sending type twin-field protocol. With high key rates and accessible technology, our work provides a promising candidate for practical scalable quantum communication networks.

Bayesian homodyne and heterodyne tomography.

Continuous-variable (CV) photonic states are of increasing interest in quantum information science, bolstered by features such as deterministic resource state generation and error correction via bosonic codes. Data-efficient characterization methods will prove critical in the fine-tuning and maturation of such CV quantum technology. Although Bayesian inference offers appealing properties-including uncertainty quantification and optimality in mean-squared error-Bayesian methods have yet to be demonstrated for the tomography of arbitrary CV states. Here we introduce a complete Bayesian quantum state tomography workflow capable of inferring generic CV states measured by homodyne or heterodyne detection, with no assumption of Gaussianity. As examples, we demonstrate our approach on experimental coherent, thermal, and cat state data, obtaining excellent agreement between our Bayesian estimates and theoretical predictions. Our approach lays the groundwork for Bayesian estimation of highly complex CV quantum states in emerging quantum photonic platforms, such as quantum communications networks and sensors.

Composable security for inter-satellite continuous-variable quantum key distribution in the terahertz band.

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) can be effectively compatible with off-the-shelf communication systems and has been proven to be the security against collective attacks in the finite-size regime and composability. In this paper, we classify three different trust levels for the loss and noise experienced by the sender and receiver. Based on these trust levels, we derive the composable finite-size security bounds of inter-satellite CVQKD in the terahertz (THz) band. We also show how these trust levels can nontrivially increase the composable secret key rates of THz-CVQKD and tolerate higher loss. Furthermore, the numerical simulations strongly support the feasibility of inter-satellite THz-CVQKD even in the worst trust level. This work provides an efficient path for building an inter-satellite quantum communication network.

Silicon Carbide Photonics Bridging Quantum Technology

In the last two decades, bulk, homoepitaxial, and heteroepitaxial growth of silicon carbide (SiC) has witnessed many advances, giving rise to electronic devices widely used in high-power and high-frequency applications. Recent research has revealed that SiC also exhibits unique optical properties that can be utilized for novel photonic devices. SiC is a transparent material from the UV to the infrared, possess nonlinear optical properties from the visible to the mid-infrared and it is a meta-material in the mid-infrared range. SiC fluorescence due to color centers can be associated with single photon emitters and can be used as spin qubits for quantum computation and communication networks and quantum sensing. This unique combination of excellent electronic, photonic and spintronic properties has prompted research to develop novel devices and sensors in the quantum technology domain. In this perspective, we highlight progress, current trends and prospects of SiC science and technology underpinning the development of classical and quantum photonic devices. Specifically, we lay out the main steps recently undertaken to achieve high quality photonic components, and outline some of the current challenges SiC faces to establish its relevance as a viable photonic technology. We will also focus on its unique potential to bridge the gap between classical and quantum photonics, and to technologically advance quantum sensing applications. We will finally provide an outlook on possible alternative applications where photonics, electronics, and spintronics could merge.

Hardware routed quantum key distribution networks

Quantum communication networks pose immense potential for revolutionising secure communications for several applications such as banking, defence, etc. The majority literature on quantum networks deals with the problems of networking and resource allocation using Software Defined Networks (SDNs). SDNs, however, introduce several issues, such as app manipulation attacks and scalability issues. We propose a novel scheme of implementing quantum communication networks that are hardware routed rather than software defined by labelling qubit photons using laser communications. We provide a comprehensive implementation of the new scheme and propose two novel algorithms—Bandwidth sharing and Equitable bandwidth sharing to implement the hardware routed quantum network. The algorithms result in a key rate increase of 118% and improved network resource utilization of 147% as compared to the First Come First Serve algorithm.

Sample-Efficient Adaptive Calibration of Quantum Networks Using Bayesian Optimization

All physical systems employed for quantum information tasks must act as unbiased carriers of encoded quantum states. Ensuring such indistinguishability of information carriers is a major challenge in many quantum information applications, including advanced quantum communication protocols. For photons, the workhorses of quantum communication networks, it is difficult to obtain and maintain their indistinguishability because of environment-induced transformations and loss imparted by communication channels, especially in noisy scenarios. Conventional strategies to mitigate these transformations often require hardware or software overhead that is restrictive (e.g., adding noise), infeasible (e.g., on a satellite), or time-consuming for deployed networks. Here we propose and develop resource-efficient Bayesian optimization techniques to rapidly and adaptively calibrate the indistinguishability of individual photons for quantum networks using only information derived from their measurement. To experimentally validate our approach, we demonstrate the optimization of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between two photons--a central task in quantum networking-- finding rapid, efficient, and reliable convergence towards maximal photon indistinguishability in the presence of high loss and shot noise. We expect our resource-optimized and experimentally friendly methodology will allow fast and reliable calibration of indistinguishable quanta, a necessary task in distributed quantum computing, communications, and sensing, as well as for fundamental investigations.

Analytical Methods for High-Rate Global Quantum Networks

The development of a future, global quantum communication network (or quantum internet) will enable high rate private communication and entanglement distribution over very long distances. However, the large-scale performance of ground-based quantum networks (which employ photons as information carriers through optical-fibres) is fundamentally limited by fibre quality and link length, with the latter being a primary design factor for practical network architectures. While these fundamental limits are well established for arbitrary network topologies, the question of how to best design global architectures remains open. In this work, we introduce a large-scale quantum network model called weakly-regular architectures. Such networks are capable of idealising network connectivity, provide freedom to capture a broad class of spatial topologies and remain analytically treatable. This allows us to investigate the effectiveness of large-scale networks with consistent connective properties, and unveil critical conditions under which end-to-end rates remain optimal. Furthermore, through a strict performance comparison of ideal, ground-based quantum networks with that of realistic satellite quantum communication protocols, we establish conditions for which satellites can be used to outperform fibre-based quantum infrastructure; {rigorously proving the efficacy of satellite-based technologies for global quantum communications.