Journal of Applied Optics
Theoretical study of single-photon acquisiti on based on Laguerre-Gaussian beams
Liying Tan
Abstract
The expressions of single-photon acquisition probability in free-space quantum key distribution were deduced based on TEM10 mode Laguerre-Gaussian beams.The single-photon acquisition was analyzed for the laser link between a ground station and a satellite in a low earth orbit.The results show that single-photon can be acquired by the receiver in the satellite with maximum probability if highly attenuated laser pulses based on TEM10 mode Laguerre-Gaussian beams are used as single-photon sources and a bright precursor reference pulse is used to set a short time window for the single-photon acquisition.Unlike the fundamental-mode Gaussian beam,the TEM10 mode Laguerre-Gaussian beam does not cause the single-photon acquisition probability losses due to the movement of satellites.