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Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters

Quantum key distribution on composite photons, polarization qutrits

S. P. Kulik, S. N. Molotkov, I. V. Radchenko

Published Nov 1, 2012• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Polarization states of a photon are the most natural degrees of freedom for encoding classical information bits. The two-dimensional space of states associated with polarization degrees of freedom of the photon is insufficient for many problems of information transfer with quantum states. We propose to use the polarization degrees of freedom of composite states of photons (polarization qutrits) for secret cryptographic key distribution.

DOI
10.1134/s0021364012170080

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Polarization states of a photon are the most natural degrees of freedom for encoding classical information bits. The two-dimensional space of states associated with polarization degrees of freedom of the photon is insufficient for many problems of information transfer with quantum states. We propose to use the polarization degrees of freedom of composite states of photons (polarization qutrits) for secret cryptographic key distribution.
High-dimensional encoding using higher degrees of freedom has become topical in quantum communication protocols. When taking advantage of entanglement correlations, the state space can be made even larger. Here, we exploit the entanglement between two dimensional space and polarization qubits, to realize a four-dimensional quantum key distribution protocol. This is achieved by using entangled states as a basis, analogous to the Bell basis, rather than typically encoding information on individual qubits. The encoding and decoding in the required complementary bases is achieved by manipulating the Pancharatnam-Berry phase with a single optical element: a q-plate. Our scheme shows a transmission fidelity of 0.98 and secret key rate of 0.9 bits per photon. While the use of only static elements is preferable, we show that the low secret key rate is a consequence of the filter based detection of the modes, rather than our choice of encoding modes.
The use of polarized photons in cryptography holds the promise of secure cryptographic quantum key distribution schemes. In theory, quantum key distribution provides a key with unconditional security. In practice, however, the implemented schemes are often operated in a regime which excludes unconditional security, or even in a regime in which insecurity can be proven. We shall describe here the basics of quantum key distribution, provide an overview of the main ideas that lead to a proof of its unconditional security, and discuss the insecurity of practical quantum key distribution to long distances. The above review will be undertaken with a special emphasis on the role of the polarization of photons. Finally, we shall briefly touch on the importance of photons and their polarization degree of freedom in recent proposals for small-scale optical quantum computing.