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.     

Space-to-Ground Quantum Key Distribution Using a Small-Sized Payload on Tiangong-2 Space Lab

Quantum technology establishes a foundation for secure communication via quantum key distribution(QKD). In the last two decades, the rapid development of QKD makes a global quantum communication network feasible. In order to construct this network, it is economical to consider small-sized and low-cost QKD payloads, which can be assembled on satellites with different sizes, such as space stations. Here we report an experimental demonstration of space-to-ground QKD using a small-sized payload, from Tiangong-2 space lab to Nanshan ground station. The 57.9-kg payload integrates a tracking system, a QKD transmitter along with modules for synchronization, and a laser communication transmitter. In the space lab,a 50 MHz vacuum+weak decoy-state optical source is sent through a reflective telescope with an aperture of 200 mm. On the ground station, a telescope with an aperture of 1200 mm collects the signal photons. A stable and high-transmittance communication channel is set up with a high-precision bidirectional tracking system, a polarization compensation module, and a synchronization system.When the quantum link is successfully established,we obtain a key rate over 100 bps with a communication distance up to 719 km. Together with our recent development of QKD in daylight,the present demonstration paves the way towards a practical satellite-constellation-based global quantum secure network with small-sized QKD payloads.     

基于不可信光源的量子密钥分配的统计特性研究

通过比较被动系统与主动系统的特性, 得出可信光源、不可信光源主动系统和不可信光源被动系统的密钥生成率随距离的变化关系; 采用标准误差分析法, 得到相应变量的偏离量; 基于诱骗态方案分析不可信光源被动系统暗计数率和光源强度参数波动对系统安全特性的影响, 得出在1310 nm 和1550 nm通信窗口下, 系统最大安全通信距离范围分别为[73.2 km, 96.5 km] 和[104.5 km, 137.9 km]. 这可为实用量子通信实验提供重要的理论参数. 关键词： 量子密钥分配 不可信光源 被动系统 统计波动     

Practical decoy-state BB84 quantum key distribution with quantum memory

We generalize BB84 quantum key distribution(QKD) to the scenario where the receiver adopts a heralded quantum memory(QM). With the heralded QM, the valid dark count rate of the receiver's single photon detectors can be mitigated obviously, which will lower the quantum bit error rate, and thus improve the performance of decoy-state BB84 QKD systems in long distance range. Simulation results show that, with practical experimental system parameters, decoy-state BB84 QKD with QM can exhibit performance comparable to that of without QM in short distance range, and exhibit performance better than that without QM in long distance range.     

Sagnac quantum key distribution over telecom fiber networks

We present a new concept for compensation of single mode fiber (SMF) birefringence effects in a Sagnac quantum key distribution (QKD) setup, based on a polarization control system and a polarization insensitive phase modulator. Our experimental data show stable (in regards to birefringence drift) QKD over 1550 nm SMF telecom networks in Sagnac configuration, using the BB84-protocol [C.H. Bennett, G. Brassard, in: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computers, Systems, and Signal Processing, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, New York, 1984, p. 175] with phase encoding. The achieved total Sagnac transmission loop distances were between 100 km and 150 km with quantum bit error rates (QBER) between 5.84% and 9.79% for the mean-photon-number μ = 0.1. The distances were much longer and rates much higher than in any other published Sagnac QKD experiments. We also show an example of our one-decoy state protocol implementations (for the 45 km distance between Alice and Bob, corresponding to the 130 km total Sagnac loop length), providing an unconditional QKD security. The measurement results have showed feasibility of QKD over telecom fiber networks in Sagnac configuration, using standard fiber telecom components.     

Quantum-Secured Data Transmission in Urban Fiber-Optics Communication Lines

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides theoretic information security in communication based on the laws of quantum physics. In this work, we report an implementation of quantum-secured data transmission in the infrastructure of Sberbank of Russia in standard communication lines in Moscow. The experiment is realized on the basis of already deployed urban fiber-optics communication channels with significant losses. We realize the decoy-state BB84 QKD protocol using the one-way scheme with polarization encoding for generating keys. Quantum-generated keys are then used for continuous key renewal in the hardware devices for establishing a quantum-secured VPN Tunnel between two offices of Sberbank. The hybrid approach used offers possibilities for long-term protection of the transmitted data; it is promising for integrating in the already existing information security infrastructure.     

Multiuser quantum key distribution over telecom fiber networks

We report five-user quantum key distribution (QKD) over switched fiber networks in both star and tree configurations, using the BB84-protocol [1] with phase encoding. Both setups implement polarization insensitive phase modulators, necessary for birefringent single mode fiber (SMF) networks. In both configurations we have achieved transmission distances between 25 km and 50 km with quantum bit error rates between 1.24% and 5.56% for the mean photon number μ=0.1. The measurements have showed feasibility of multiuser QKD over switched fiber networks, using standard fiber telecom components.     

Experimental validation of dynamic polarization compensation in ground-satellite quantum key distribution

Ground-satellite quantum key distribution(QKD)is a feasible way to implement global-scale quantum communication.Herein we propose an approach to dynamically compensate the polarization of the photons when passing through the optical telescope used in ground-satellite QKD.Our results experimentally demonstrate that the fidelity of any polarization state after dynamic compensation can be achieved by more than 99.5%,which fulfills the requirements of ground-satellite QKD.     

A long-distance quantum key distribution scheme based on pre-detection of optical pulse with auxiliary state

We construct a circuit based on PBS and CNOT gates, which can be used to determine whether the input pulse is empty or not according to the detection result of the auxiliary state, while the input state will not be changed. The circuit can be treated as a pre-detection device. Equipping the pre-detection device in the front of the receiver of the quantum key distribution(QKD) can reduce the influence of the dark count of the detector, hence increasing the secure communication distance significantly. Simulation results show that the secure communication distance can reach 516 km and 479 km for QKD with perfect single photon source and decoy-state QKD with weak coherent photon source, respectively.     

Cryptanalysis of Multiparty Quantum Secret Sharing of Quantum State Using Entangled States

Security of a quantum secret sharing of quantum state protocol proposed by Guo et al. [Chin. Phys. Lett. 25 （2008） 16] is reexamined. It is shown that an eavesdropper can obtain some of the transmitted secret information by monitoring the classical channel or the entire secret by intercepting the quantum states, and moreover, the eavesdropper can even maliciously replace the secret message with an arbitrary message without being detected. Finally, the deep reasons why an eavesdropper can attack this protocol are discussed and the modified protocol is presented to amend the security loopholes.     

Experimental decoy-state quantum key distribution with a sub-poissionian heralded single-photon source

We have experimentally demonstrated a decoy-state quantum key distribution scheme (QKD) with a heralded single-photon source based on parametric down-conversion. We used a one-way Bennett-Brassard 1984 protocol with a four states and one-detector phase-coding scheme, which is immune to recently proposed time-shift attacks, photon-number splitting attacks, and can also be proven to be secure against Trojan horse attacks and any other standard individual or coherent attacks. In principle, the setup can tolerate the highest losses or it can give the highest secure key generation rate under fixed losses compared with other practical schemes. This makes it a quite promising candidate for future quantum key distribution systems.     

Experimental Decoy State Quantum Key Distribution Over 120km Fibre

Decoy state quantum key distribution （QKD）, being capable of beating PNS attack and being unconditionally secure has become attractive recently. However, in many QKD systems, disturbances of transmission channel make the quantum bit error rate （QBER） increase, which limits both security distance and key bit rate of real-world decoy state QKD systems. We demonstrate the two-intensity decoy QKD with a one-way Faraday- Michelson phase modulation system, which is free of channel disturbance and keeps an interference fringe visibility （99%） long period, over a 120 km single mode optical fibre in telecom （1550nm） wavelength. This is the longest distance fibre decoy state QKD system based on the two-intensity protocol.     

Decoy-state reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution with both source errors and statistical fluctuations

Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution(RFI QKD) can generate secret keys without the alignment of reference frames, which is very robust in real-life implementations of QKD systems. However, the performance of decoystate RFI QKD with both source errors and statistical fluctuations is still missing until now. In this paper, we investigate the performance of decoy-state RFI QKD in practical scenarios with two kinds of light sources, the heralded single photon source(HSPS) and the weak coherent source(WCS), and also give clear comparison results of decoy-state RFI QKD with WCS and HSPS. Simulation results show that the secret key rates of decoy-state RFI QKD with WCS are higher than those with HSPS in short distance range, but the secret key rates of RFI QKD with HSPS outperform those with WCS in long distance range.     

QKD system with fast active optical path length compensation

We develop a quantum key distribution (QKD) system with fast active optical path length compensation. A rapid and reliable active optical path length compensation scheme is proposed and applied to a plug-and-play QKD system. The system monitors changes in key rates and controls it is own operation automatically. The system achieves its optimal performance within three seconds of operation, which includes a sifted key rate of 5.5 kbps and a quantum bit error rate of less than 2% after an abrupt temperature variation along the 25 km quantum channel. The system also operates well over a 24 h period while completing more than 60 active optical path length compensations.     

基于实用光源的诱惑态量子密钥分配研究

文章通过比较主动诱惑态和被动诱惑态的特性,假设所有可测量都围绕渐近值上下波动,得到相应变量的偏离量,采用标准误差法分析实用光源条件下,有限脉冲数编码对密钥生成率和传输距离的影响,比较了主动诱惑态、被动诱惑态 、无限长时间极限情况和不同量子效率条件下密钥生成率随传输距离的变化关系,为实用的量子密钥分配实验提供了重要的理论参数. 关键词： 诱惑态 量子密钥分配 统计涨落     

偏振稳定控制下的量子密钥分发

由于长距离单模光纤传输中存在的双折射效应会引起偏振随机抖动，光纤中利用偏振编码进行量子密钥分发一直难以实现.利用光子计数分析光纤中的偏振变化情况，并通过反馈控制的方式补偿偏振变化，从而实现了基于BB84协议的偏振编码长时间稳定的量子密钥分发实验，传输距离为100km. 关键词： 量子密钥分发 偏振反馈控制 单光子探测 偏振随机抖动     

2 GHz clock quantum key distribution over 260 km of standard telecom fiber

We report a demonstration of quantum key distribution (QKD) over a standard telecom fiber exceeding 50 dB in loss and 250 km in length. The differential phase shift QKD protocol was chosen and implemented with a 2 GHz system clock rate. By careful optimization of the 1 bit delayed Faraday-Michelson interferometer and the use of the superconducting single photon detector (SSPD), we achieved a quantum bit error rate below 2% when the fiber length was no more than 205 km, and of 3.45% for a 260 km fiber with 52.9 dB loss. We also improved the quantum efficiency of SSPD to obtain a high key rate for 50 km length.     

Performance of passive decoy-state quantum key distribution with mismatched local detectors

In quantum key distribution(QKD),the passive decoy-state method can simplify the intensity modulation and reduce some of side-channel information leakage and modulation errors.It is usually implemented with a heralded single-photon source.In Wang et al 2016(Phys.Rev.A 96032312),a novel passive decoy-state method is proposed by Wang et al,which uses two local detectors to generate more detection events for tightly estimating channel parameters.However,in the original scheme,the two local detectors are assumed to be identical,including the same detection efficiency and dark count rate,which is often not satisfied in the realistic experiment.In this paper,we construct a model for this passive decoy-state QKD scheme with two mismatched detectors and explore the effect on QKD performance with certain parameters.We also take the finite-size effect into consideration,showing the performance with statistical fluctuations.The results show that the efficiencies of local detectors affect the key rate more obviously than dark count rates.     

Expandable quantum key distribution networks based on secret bits comparison

A scheme of quantum network based on multiuser differential phase shift quantum key distribution system (DPS-QKD) is proposed. In this quantum network, arbitrary two users can achieve secret bits sharing by point-to-multipoint quantum key distribution and secret bits comparison. A protocol of secret bits sharing between arbitrary two users is presented. This network can implement secret bits distribution over 200 km with higher key generation rate by today's technologies. In theory, the capacity of user numbers in this network is unlimited. Hence, our proposed quantum network can serve for a metropolitan QKD network. A wide area QKD network can be constructed with this metropolitan QKD network.     

Experimental quantum key distribution with decoy states

To increase dramatically the distance and the secure key generation rate of quantum key distribution (QKD), the idea of quantum decoys--signals of different intensities--has recently been proposed. Here, we present the first experimental implementation of decoy state QKD. By making simple modifications to a commercial quantum key distribution system, we show that a secure key generation rate of 165 bit/s, which is 1/4 of the theoretical limit, can be obtained over 15 km of a telecommunication fiber. We also show that with the same experimental parameters, not even a single bit of secure key can be extracted with a non-decoy-state protocol. Compared to building single photon sources, decoy state QKD is a much simpler method for increasing the distance and key generation rate of unconditionally secure QKD.