A quantum secure direct communication scheme based on intermediate-basis

Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) is a method of communication that transmits secret information directly through a quantum channel. This paper proposes a two-step QSDC scheme based on intermediate-basis, in which the intermediate-basis Einstein?Podolsky?Rosen (EPR) pairs can assist to detect channel security and help encode information. Specifically, the intermediate-basis EPR pairs reduce the probability of Eve choosing the correct measurement basis in the first step, enhancing the security of the system. Moreover, they encode information together with information EPR pairs to improve the transmission efficiency in the second step. We consider the security of the protocol under coherent attack when Eve takes different dimensions of the auxiliary system. The simulation results show that intermediate-basis EPR pairs can lower the upper limit of the amount of information that Eve can steal in both attack scenarios. Therefore, the proposed protocol can ensure that the legitimate parties get more confidential information and improve the transmission efficiency.