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arXiv:1402.2210 · Applied Physics Letters

Room temperature single-photon detectors for high bit rate quantum key distribution

L. C. Comandar, B. Fröhlich, M. Lucamarini, K. A. Patel, A. W. Sharpe, J. F. Dynes, Z. L. Yuan, R. V. Penty, A. J. Shields

Published Jan 13, 2014• 92 citations
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Abstract

We report room temperature operation of telecom wavelength single-photon detectors for high bit rate quantum key distribution (QKD). Room temperature operation is achieved using InGaAs avalanche photodiodes integrated with electronics based on the self-differencing technique that increases avalanche discrimination sensitivity. Despite using room temperature detectors, we demonstrate QKD with record secure bit rates over a range of fiber lengths (e.g., 1.26 Mbit/s over 50 km). Furthermore, our results indicate that operating the detectors at room temperature increases the secure bit rate for short distances.

DOI
10.1063/1.4855515

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We report room temperature operation of telecom wavelength single-photon detectors for high bit rate quantum key distribution (QKD). Room temperature operation is achieved using InGaAs avalanche photodiodes integrated with electronics based on the self-differencing technique that increases avalanche discrimination sensitivity. Despite using room temperature detectors, we demonstrate QKD with record secure bit rates over a range of fiber lengths (e.g., 1.26 Mbit/s over 50 km). Furthermore, our results indicate that operating the detectors at room temperature increases the secure bit rate for short distances.
We report room temperature operation of telecom wavelength single-photon detectors for high bit rate quantum key distribution (QKD). Room temperature operation is achieved using InGaAs avalanche photodiodes integrated with electronics based on the self-differencing technique that increases avalanche discrimination sensitivity. Despite using room temperature detectors, we demonstrate QKD with record secure bit rates over a range of fiber lengths (e.g., 1.26 Mbit/s over 50 km). Furthermore, our results indicate that operating the detectors at room temperature increases the secure bit rate for short distances. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
Quantum communication, in particular, quantum key distribution (QKD) is moving ever closer to real world implementation. However, for successful QKD system deployment, the QKD system components must be robustly designed and feature highly reliable operation. In this paper we focus on one important aspect of any quantum communication system: the single photon detector. In particular our interest is centered upon the InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD) single photon detector operating in a self-differencing (SD) mode. Such a detector features high clock frequencies of up to 3GHz, high photon count rates as well as detection efficiencies approaching 20% with low afterpulsing. We show successful operation of a high bit rate QKD system using this SD-APD technology in a real world fiber network.
We report a demonstration of quantum key distribution (QKD) at gigahertz clock rates with InGaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operating in a self-differencing mode. Such a mode of operation allows detection of extremely weak avalanches so that the detector afterpulse noise is sufficiently suppressed. The system is characterized by a secure bit rate of 2.37Mbit∕s at 5.6km and 27.9kbit∕s at 65.5km when the fiber dispersion is not compensated. After compensating the fiber dispersion, the QKD distance is extended to 101km, resulting in a secure key rate of 2.88kbit∕s. Our results suggest that InGaAs APDs are very well suited to gigahertz QKD applications.
We report a demonstration of quantum key distribution (QKD) at gigahertz clock rates with InGaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operating in a self-differencing mode. Such a mode of operation allows detection of extremely weak avalanches so that the detector afterpulse noise is sufficiently suppressed. The system is characterized by a secure bit rate of 2.37Mbit∕s at 5.6km and 27.9kbit∕s at 65.5km when the fiber dispersion is not compensated. After compensating the fiber dispersion, the QKD distance is extended to 101km, resulting in a secure key rate of 2.88kbit∕s. Our results suggest that InGaAs APDs are very well suited to gigahertz QKD applications.
Using InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes as sensors and coaxial cables as reflection lines to reject spike signals, we have firstly employed the ``timing filtering'' gates to pick out avalanche signals and have realized the single photon detection at 1550 nm in the temperature range of thermoelectric cooling. A ratio of the dark count rate to the detection efficiency was obtained to be 9 × 10 −5 at 223 K. When the detector is applied to a practical quantum key distribution system, the transmission distance can reach 89.5 km and the repetition rate can reach 0.33 MHz.
Two approaches to single-photon detection at telecom wavelengths have been investigated, using semiconductor and superconductor technologies. The low temperature operation of free-running InGaAs/InP negative feedback avalanche diodes (NFADs) was studied, demonstrating that they can operate with an extremely low dark count rate, which opens up a host of new applications. Secondly, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) based on amorphous materials were developed, fabricated and characterized. These detectors are highly attractive because they can achieve excellent attributes simultaneously, such as high efficiency, low noise, good temporal resolution, no afterpulsing and high count rates. Finally, it was demonstrated that the use of NFADs can enable record distance quantum key distribution (QKD) over 307 km of optical fiber. A next generation QKD system has been proposed and numerically analyzed, aiming at extending the record distance by an additional 100 km and increasing the state-of-the-art secret key rate by over an order of magnitude.