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arXiv:1911.00690 · Physical Review X

High-Speed Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Integrated Silicon Photonics

Kejin Wei, Wei Li, Hao Tan, Yang Li, Hao Min, Weijun Zhang, Hao Li, Lixing You, Zhen Wang, Xiao Qiang Jiang, Teng‐Yun Chen, Sheng‐Kai Liao, Cheng-Zhi Peng, Feihu Xu, Jian-Wei Pan

Published Aug 10, 2020• 233 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) removes all detector side channels and enables secure QKD with an untrusted relay.It is suitable for building a star-type quantum access network, where the complicated and expensive measurement devices are placed in the central untrusted relay and each user requires only a low-cost transmitter, such as an integrated photonic chip.Here, we experimentally demonstrate a 1.25-GHz silicon photonic chip-based MDI QKD system using polarization encoding.The photonic chip transmitters integrate the necessary encoding components for a standard QKD source.We implement random modulations of polarization states and decoy intensities, and demonstrate a finite-key secret rate of 31 bit=s over 36-dB channel loss (or 180-km standard fiber).This key rate is higher than state-of-the-art MDI QKD experiments.The results show that silicon photonic chipbased MDI QKD, benefiting from miniaturization, low-cost manufacture, and compatibility with CMOS microelectronics, is a promising solution for future quantum secure networks.

DOI
10.1103/physrevx.10.031030

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Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) removes all detector side channels and enables secure QKD with an untrusted relay.It is suitable for building a star-type quantum access network, where the complicated and expensive measurement devices are placed in the central untrusted relay and each user requires only a low-cost transmitter, such as an integrated photonic chip.Here, we experimentally demonstrate a 1.25-GHz silicon photonic chip-based MDI QKD system using polarization encoding.The photonic chip transmitters integrate the necessary encoding components for a standard QKD source.We implement random modulations of polarization states and decoy intensities, and demonstrate a finite-key secret rate of 31 bit=s over 36-dB channel loss (or 180-km standard fiber).This key rate is higher than state-of-the-art MDI QKD experiments.The results show that silicon photonic chipbased MDI QKD, benefiting from miniaturization, low-cost manufacture, and compatibility with CMOS microelectronics, is a promising solution for future quantum secure networks.
Breakthroughs in chip integration technology have accelerated the practical deployment and scalable implementation of quantum key distribution (QKD). On-chip quantum light sources are critical components of fully integrated QKD systems. Measurement-Device-Independent QKD (MDI-QKD) offers significant advantages in network communication by eliminating vulnerabilities to side-channel attacks at the detector side, while relying on high-visibility Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between photons emitted by two independent lasers. Here, we present an innovative design of the silicon-based hybrid integrated self-injection locking (SIL) laser chip that achieves high-frequency-stability operation with the frequency detuning between independent lasers suppressed to within 15 MHz, enabling high-visibility HOM interference in MDI-QKD. Leveraging this design, we experimentally demonstrate a loss-tolerant MDI-QKD system employing the setting-choice-independent correlation security framework explicitly accounting for state-preparation uncertainty. The system achieves a finite-key secret rate of 17 b/s under 34 dB channel loss (or 170-km standard fiber), surpassing previously reported MDI-QKD experiments that incorporated state preparation uncertainty under equivalent transmission loss conditions. Our result makes a promising contribution to practical applications of fully integrated quantum communication networks.
Integrated photonics provides a route to both miniaturization of quantum key distribution (QKD) devices and enhancing their performance. A key element for achieving discrete-variable QKD is a single-photon detector. It is highly desirable to integrate detectors onto a photonic chip to enable the realization of practical and scalable quantum networks. We realize a heterogeneously integrated, superconducting silicon-photonic chip. Harnessing the unique high-speed feature of our optical waveguide-integrated superconducting detector, we perform the first optimal Bell-state measurement (BSM) of time-bin encoded qubits generated from two independent lasers. The optimal BSM enables an increased key rate of measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD), which is immune to all attacks against the detection system and hence provides the basis for a QKD network with untrusted relays. Together with the time-multiplexed technique, we have enhanced the sifted key rate by almost one order of magnitude. With a 125-MHz clock rate, we obtain a secure key rate of 6.166 kbps over 24.0 dB loss, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art MDI-QKD experimental results with a GHz clock rate. Combined with integrated QKD transmitters, a scalable, chip-based, and cost-effective QKD network should become realizable in the near future.
Photonic integration offers a practical solution for wider deployment of quantum secure communication. Based on carrier-depletion modulators (CDMs) in silicon photonics, we design and fabricate high-speed transmitter chips and demonstrate its capability to implement measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD). In the proof-of-concept experiment, the quantum bit error rate (QBER) is as low as 0.85% in Z basis and 25.5% in X basis, respectively. With a double-scanning method, the optimized system shows a key rate per pulse of 1.65×10−4 over an emulated attenuation of 10 dB (corresponding to 50-km standard fiber) with 80% single photon detection efficiency.
We assess the overall performance of our quantum key distribution (QKD) system implementing the measurement-device-independent (MDI) protocol using components with varying capabilities such as different single-photon detectors and qubit preparation hardware. We experimentally show that superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors allow QKD over a channel featuring 60 dB loss, and QKD with more than 600 bits of secret key per second (not considering finite key effects) over a 16 dB loss channel. This corresponds to 300 and 80 km of standard telecommunication fiber, respectively. We also demonstrate that the integration of our QKD system into FPGA-based hardware (instead of state-of-the-art arbitrary waveform generators) does not impact on its performance. Our investigation allows us to acquire an improved understanding of the trade-offs between complexity, cost and system performance, which is required for future customization of MDI-QKD. Given that our system can be operated outside the laboratory over deployed fiber, we conclude that MDI-QKD is a promising approach to information-theoretic secure key distribution.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises security stemming from the laws of quantum physics. QKD devices based on integrated chips not only provides miniaturization, but also enhanced performance, which is important to practical and scalable networks. Here we report the realization of a relay server for measurement-device-independent QKD based on a heterogeneous superconducting-silicon-photonic chip. Silicon waveguides and beam splitters are used for optical guidance and interference. Waveguide integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are used to detector single photons. We show Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between weak coherent states with a visibility of 48%(2%). Our system generates 733 sifted bits at about 71 dB attenuation (equivalent to 358 km standard fiber) with a quantum bit error rate of 3.5%(0.7%). The fabrication processes of our device are compatible with standard thin-film technology. Together with integrated QKD transmitters, a scalable, chip-based and cost-effective QKD network can be realized in the near future.
Integrated photonics provides a promising platform for quantum key distribution (QKD) system in terms of miniaturization, robustness, and scalability. Tremendous QKD works based on integrated photonics have been reported. Nonetheless, most current chip-based QKD implementations require additional off-chip hardware to demodulate quantum states or perform auxiliary tasks such as time synchronization and polarization basis tracking. Here, we report a demonstration of resource-efficient chip-based BB84 QKD with a silicon-based encoder and a decoder. In our scheme, the time synchronization and polarization compensation are implemented relying on the preparation and measurement of the quantum states generated by on-chip devices; thus, we need no additional hardware. The experimental tests show that our scheme is highly stable with a low intrinsic quantum bit error rate of 0.50 % ±0.02 % in a 6 h continuous run. Furthermore, over a commercial fiber channel up to 150 km, the system enables the realization of secure key distribution at a rate of 866 bit/s. Our demonstration paves the way for a low-cost, wafer-scale manufactured QKD system.