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Physical Review A

Experimental study of four-state reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution with source flaws

Jipeng Wang, Hongwei Liu, Haiqiang Ma, Shi‐Hai Sun

Published Mar 7, 2019• 30 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) has been proposed as a method to avoid the requirement of real-time alignment of reference frames. However, the source flaw has not been considered in most of the previously reported works. In this paper, based on the analysis of Wang et al. [Phys. Rev. A 92, 042319 (2015)], we perform a proof-of-concept experiment to demonstrate the loss-tolerant RFI-QKD by constructing a time-bin phase-encoded system and quantifying its source flaws. Moreover, the finite-key analysis is taken into account while estimating the secure key rate. Our experimental demonstration makes a positive contribution to the realization of quantum cryptography in a complex and imperfect real-world environment.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.99.032309

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Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) has been proposed as a method to avoid the requirement of real-time alignment of reference frames. However, the source flaw has not been considered in most of the previously reported works. In this paper, based on the analysis of Wang et al. [Phys. Rev. A 92, 042319 (2015)], we perform a proof-of-concept experiment to demonstrate the loss-tolerant RFI-QKD by constructing a time-bin phase-encoded system and quantifying its source flaws. Moreover, the finite-key analysis is taken into account while estimating the secure key rate. Our experimental demonstration makes a positive contribution to the realization of quantum cryptography in a complex and imperfect real-world environment.
Compared with the traditional protocols of quantum key distribution (QKD), the reference-frame-independent (RFI)--QKD protocol has been generally proved to be very useful and practical, since its experimental implementation can be simplified without the alignment of a reference frame. In most RFI-QKD systems, the encoding states are always taken to be perfect, which, however, is not practical in realizations. In this paper, we consider the security of RFI QKD with source flaws based on the loss-tolerant method proposed by Tamaki et al. [Phys. Rev. A 90, 052314 (2014)]. As the six-state protocol can be realized with four states, we show that the RFI-QKD protocol can also be performed with only four encoding states instead of six encoding states in its standard version. Furthermore, the numerical simulation results show that the source flaws in the key-generation basis (Z(Z(Z basis) will reduce the key rate but are loss tolerant, while the ones in XXX and YYY bases almost have no effect and the key rate remains almost the same even when they are very large. Hence, our method and results will have important significance in practical experiments, especially in earth-to-satellite or chip-to-chip quantum communications.
The discrepancy between theory and experiment severely limits the development of quantum key distribution (QKD). Reference-frame-independent (RFI) protocols have been proposed to avoid alignment of the reference frame with the assumption of qubit systems. However, Trojan horse attacks and high-dimensional information leakage caused by equipment loopholes inevitably result in an imperfect non-qubit emitted signal. In this paper, we analyze the security of the RFI-QKD protocol with non-qubit source flaws based on a generalizing loss-tolerant method. The simulation results show that it is feasible to employ non-qubit flaw sources without compromising the security of the QKD system. Moreover, it only requires the preparation of four quantum states, which reduces the complexity of the experiment.
Reference frame independent and measurement device independent quantum key distribution (RFI-MDI-QKD) has the advantages of being immune to detector side loopholes and misalignment of the reference frame.However, several former related research works are based on the unrealistic assumption of perfect source preparation.In this paper, we merge a loss-tolerant method into RFI-MDI-QKD to consider source flaws into key rate estimation and compare it with quantum coin method.Based on a reliable experimental scheme, the joint influence of both source flaws and reference frame misalignment is discussed with consideration of the finite-key effect.The results show that the loss-tolerant RFI-MDI-QKD protocol can reach longer key rate performance while considering the existence of source flaws in a real-world implementation.
Recently, reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) has attracted more attention, since no active calibration of the reference frame is required. Thus, it has potential advantages in practical applications, especially for QKD with a mobile-platform-based quantum channel. However, due to the imperfections of devices, practical security is still one of the main bottlenecks for the application of RFI-QKD. Although, based on ``qubit'' assumption, RFI-QKD with the inaccuracy of encoded state was analyzed and demonstrated, this assumption is hard to be guaranteed in practical situations, and some source flaws could not be considered. In this paper we evaluate the security of RFI-QKD with general source flaws, in which the qubit assumption is removed. Then, almost all the source flaws (not only the inaccuracy of encoded state, but also the side channel, the Trojan horse, and so on) can be considered together.
Abstract Reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-MDI-QKD) can remove all potential detector side-channel attacks and the requirement of real-time alignment of reference frames. However, all previous RFI-MDI-QKD implementations assume the perfect state preparation in sources, which is impractical and may lead to security loopholes. Here, we propose an RFI-MDI-QKD protocol which is robust against state preparation flaws. Comparing to the conventional six-state RFI-MDI-QKD, our scheme can be realized with only four flawed states, which improves the practical security of RFI-MDI-QKD and simplifies the experimental implementation. In addition, simulation results demonstrate that source flaws in Z basis have adverse effect on the performance of RFI-MDI-QKD while the source flaws in X and Y bases have almost no effect. We hope that this work could provide a valuable reference for practical implementations of RFI-MDI-QKD.
Reference frame independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) has gained widespread attention due to the unique advantage for practical application, as it circumvents the need for active reference frame alignment within the system. However, in comparison to the standard BB84 protocol, the original 6-state RFI protocol requires a greater number of quantum states to be operated by Alice and Bob, which is an aspect that merits optimization. In this work, we propose a 4-state RFI protocol and illustrate that Alice and Bob each require only four quantum states to perform channel estimation that remains independent of reference frame deviation, which can proficiently reduce the system complexity. Furthermore, through numerical simulations taking the finite-size key effect into consideration, we show that 4-state RFI protocol can achieve a secure key rate and transmission distance on par with the original 6-state RFI protocol. Finally, a experiment over 200 km is inplemented to conducted the feasibility of our scheme. We believe that our protocol can streamline the implementation of RFI-QKD and thereby contribute to the practical advancement of RFI-QKD.