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China Communications

Dynamic polarization-basis compensation for free-space quantum communications

Zhang Guangyu, Yang Zhe, Zhang Chenglong, Zhu Zhihan, Wang Zhenhua

Published Feb 1, 2013• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In polarization-encoded free-space quantum communications, a transmitter on a satellite and a receiver in a ground station each have a respective polarization zero direction, by which they encode and decode every polarization quantum bit required for a quantum communication protocol. In order to complete the protocol, the ground-based receiver needs to track and compensate for the polarization zero direction of the satellite-based transmitter. Expressions satisfied by amplitudes of the s-polarization component and the p-polarization component are derived based on a two-mirror model, and a condition satisfied by the reflection coefficients of the two mirrors is given. A polarization tracking principle is analyzed for satellite-to-ground quantum communications, and quantum key encoding and decoding principles based on polarization tracking are given. A half-wave-plate-based dynamic polarization-basis compensation scheme is proposed in this paper, and this scheme is proved to be suitable for satellite-to-ground and intersatellite quantum communications.

DOI
10.1109/cc.2013.6472856

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In polarization-encoded free-space quantum communications, a transmitter on a satellite and a receiver in a ground station each have a respective polarization zero direction, by which they encode and decode every polarization quantum bit required for a quantum communication protocol. In order to complete the protocol, the ground-based receiver needs to track and compensate for the polarization zero direction of the satellite-based transmitter. Expressions satisfied by amplitudes of the s-polarization component and the p-polarization component are derived based on a two-mirror model, and a condition satisfied by the reflection coefficients of the two mirrors is given. A polarization tracking principle is analyzed for satellite-to-ground quantum communications, and quantum key encoding and decoding principles based on polarization tracking are given. A half-wave-plate-based dynamic polarization-basis compensation scheme is proposed in this paper, and this scheme is proved to be suitable for satellite-to-ground and intersatellite quantum communications.
Satellite networks and quantum communications offer complementary opportunities for enhanced operations. Quantum communications provide security for the transmissions between satellites and ground stations; while the free-space link of satellite networks provide the potential of long distance transmission of quantum bits (qubit) for space communications. However, with the promising advantages of the two approaches, challenges remain to fully develop quantum-based satellite communications such as robust and reliable information detection which is difficult to achieve due to the movement of satellites. In this paper, a tracking algorithm is proposed for polarization-encoded quantum satellite communications where polarization states are used to determine the bit transfer between the transmitter and receiver. The polarization tracking is essential for the decoding of a qubit and the quantum key distribution (QKD). A practical channel model for free-space quantum communications is adopted in this paper. With the estimated polarization, a novel dynamic polarization compensation scheme is also proposed. The results show that our methods can accurately estimate the polarization, providing much lower quantum bit error rate (QBER) by compensation, as compared with the direct qubit detection without polarization tracking and compensation scheme.
In polarization-encoded satellite-to-ground quantum communication, the on-board transmitter and a receiver at the optical ground station encode and decode linearly polarized quantum bits for execution of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol. Dynamic polarization tracking and compensation is a key technique in realizing such a space based QKD system. In this work, we report the design and development of motorized waveplate based active polarization compensation system. Integrated testing and validation with Decoy-state enabled BB84 QKD testbed over ~5m free space channel and quantum link polarization extinction ratio (PER) ≥ 100:1 has been carried out successfully. Satellite motion was emulated as a continuous 1°/s polarization basis rotation at the Quantum Tx output. When active polarization compensation system was enabled, sazimuth (Az.) deviation was measured with ±1.5° accuracy. During this experiment, overall signal QBER was consistently maintained at <3.5% with secure key generation rate of ~1350kbps, proving the suitability of this scheme for realistic satellite-to-ground QKD scenarios.
Satellite quantum key distribution is a promising technique that overcomes the limited transmission distance in optical-fiber-based systems. The polarization tracking technique is one of the key techniques in the satellite quantum key distribution. With free-space quantum key distribution between an optical ground station and a satellite, the photon polarization state will be changed according to the satellite movement. To enable polarization based quantum key distribution between mobile terminals, we developed a polarization-basis tracking scheme allowing a common frame of reference to be shared. It is possible to orient two platforms along a common axis by detecting the reference optical signal only on the receiver side with no prior information about the transmitter's orientation. We developed a prototype system for free-space quantum key distribution with the polarization-basis tracking scheme. Polarization tracking performance was 0.092° by conducting quantum key distribution experiments over a 1 km free space between two buildings in a Tokyo suburb.
Basis deviation is the reference-frame deviation between a sender and receiver caused by satellite motion in satellite-to-ground quantum communications. It increases the quantum-bit error ratio of the system and must be compensated for to guarantee reliable quantum communications. We present a new scheme for compensating for basis deviation that employs a BB84 decoding module to detect basis deviation and half-wave plate to provide compensation. Based on this detection scheme, we design a basis-deviation compensation approach and test its feasibility in a voyage experiment. Unlike other polarization-correction schemes, this compensation scheme is simple, convenient, and can be easily implemented in satellite-to-ground quantum communications without increased burden to the satellite.
Free-Space Quantum Communication(FSQC) based on the BB84(Bennett-Brassard 1984) protocol makes use of two groups of conjugate basis polarized photon as the carriers of information to realize the communication between a satelits and a group station. Polarization would show some problems like the contrast of polarization to be worser and the polarization-basis unmatched when transfering. In order to achieve the BB84 protocol, ground station needed to track and calibrate for the polarization zero direction of the satellite equipments. So the polarization maintaining and polarization-basis calibrating is one of the key technologies of the FSQC system. Firstly, this paper established the mathematical model of polarization in the FSQC system, and then derived the mathematical relation between the contrast of polarization and the phase delay in theory. Some proposals of Optical System designs have been suggested in the paper. Finally the problem of dynamic polarization-basis in the satellite-ground link had been analysed and the dynamic characteristic of the deviation angle of polarization-basis in this paper.
Quantum cryptography is a new technique for transmitting quantum information. The information is securely transmitted due to the laws of physics. In such systems, the vehicle that transfers quantum information is a single photon. The problem with using photons is that the transmission distance is limited by the absorption of the photons by the optical fiber along which they pass. The maximum demonstrated range so far is approximately 100 km. Using free-space quantum cryptography between a ground station and a satellite is a possible way of sending quantum information farther than is possible with optical fibers. This is because there is no birefringence effect in the atmosphere. However, there is a complication in that the directions of the polarization basis between the transmitter and the receiver must coincide with each other. This polarization changes because the mobile terminals for free-space transmission continuously change their attitudes. If the transmission protocol is based on polarization, it is necessary to compensate for the change in attitude between the mobile terminals. We are developing a scheme to track the polarization basis between the transceivers. The preliminary result is presented.