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Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution for metropolitan network

Prathwiraj Umesh

Published Dec 1, 2019• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Since its initial proposal in 2012, measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDIQKD) has inspired rapid experimental progress as it is invulnerable to all detector side-channel attacks and ideally suitable for quantum key distribution (QKD) networks with star-topology, such as metropolitan networks. The main goal of this thesis is to develop MDIQKD systems for building a cost-effective metropolitan quantum network. Towards this end, we experimentally demonstrate the coexistence of MDIQKD with classical communication on the same fibre. This eliminates the use of dark fibre for quantum communication and minimises implementation costs by utilising the existing fibre infrastructure. Additionally, we move the quantum channel from the third telecommunication window (1530-1565 nm) to second (1260-1360 nm) to ensure MDIQKD can co-exist with classical communication rates of over 10-terabits per second. Furthermore, we enhance the performance of the MDIQKD systems by increasing the repetition rate from 20MHz to 200MHz and improve flexibility and reliability to facilitate the deployment of a metropolitan quantum network.

DOI
10.11575/prism/37337

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Since its initial proposal in 2012, measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDIQKD) has inspired rapid experimental progress as it is invulnerable to all detector side-channel attacks and ideally suitable for quantum key distribution (QKD) networks with star-topology, such as metropolitan networks. The main goal of this thesis is to develop MDIQKD systems for building a cost-effective metropolitan quantum network. Towards this end, we experimentally demonstrate the coexistence of MDIQKD with classical communication on the same fibre. This eliminates the use of dark fibre for quantum communication and minimises implementation costs by utilising the existing fibre infrastructure. Additionally, we move the quantum channel from the third telecommunication window (1530-1565 nm) to second (1260-1360 nm) to ensure MDIQKD can co-exist with classical communication rates of over 10-terabits per second. Furthermore, we enhance the performance of the MDIQKD systems by increasing the repetition rate from 20MHz to 200MHz and improve flexibility and reliability to facilitate the deployment of a metropolitan quantum network.
Over the last few decades, quantum key distribution (QKD) has gained a lot of attention due to its promise of establishing secret keys between authenticated users even in the presence of an eavesdropper who is only confined by the laws of nature. Secure key established by QKD in conjunction with one-time pad (OTP) encryption thus promises to end the long standing battle between code-makers and code-breakers. Spurred by its great promise, QKD has been the first quantum information technology to be commercialized and QKD systems are available from a number of vendors.However, these systems are still vulnerable to side-channel attacks as the components used in these systems don’t necessarily conform to the idealistic assumptions made in security proofs of QKD. Of the many components, single photon detectors have been identified as the most vulnerable component allowing, for instance, so-called ‘blinding attacks.’ In light of this, measurement device independent quantum key distribution (MDIQKD) protocol was proposed as a means to make QKD inherently immune to all possible detector side channel attacks, due to the particular property of the so-called Bell state measurement. The aim of this thesis is to develop techniques that will allow developing a cost- effective MDIQKD system that is suitable for quantum networks and to use these techniques to perform quantum teleportation on a metropolitan scale for the first time. More precisely this thesis describes the assessment of performance of MDIQKD using differ- ent hardware; the development of cost-effective MDIQKD system for quantum networks; the building of a practical quantum random generator (QRNG) suitable for high speed QKD systems; the demonstration of quantum teleportation on a metropolitan scale and the realization of an efficient Bell state analyzer for time-bin qubits that improves the efficiency of all quantum information processing tasks including MDIQKD and quantum teleportation. The above demonstrations constitute an important step towards realizing practical quantum internet.
The main type of obstacles of practical applications of quantum key distribution (QKD) network are various attacks on detection. Measurement-device-independent QKD (MDIQKD) protocol is immune to all these attacks, and thus, a strong candidate for network security. Recently, several proof-of-principle demonstrations of MDIQKD have been performed. Although novel, those experiments are implemented in the laboratory with secure key rates less than 0.1 b/s. Besides, they need manual calibration frequently to maintain the system performance. These aspects render these demonstrations far from practicability. Thus, justification is extremely crucial for practical deployment into the field environment. Here, by developing an automatic feedback MDIQKD system operated at a high clock rate, we perform a field test via deployed fiber network of 30 km total length achieving a 16.9 b/s secure key rate. The result lays the foundation for a global quantum network, which can shield from all the detection-side attacks.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) can serve large numbers of users with unconditional secure communication, in which measurement-device-independent (MDI) QKD protocol can conveniently enhance realistic security by eliminating all detector side channels. In multi-user scenarios, MDI-QKD networks should meet the requirements of reliability and robustness. Around the issues, we complete a series of work on performance improvement, low-cost deployment, and robust networking. First is to answer how to change the trusted node to the untrusted node with low cost, here we propose and demonstrate an MDIQKD which is compatible with phase encoding BB84 networks, allowing for economical deployment of MDI-QKD networks and reconciliation between high key rate and high realistic security in the same network. Then we make the MDI networks more robust. We design an MDI-QKD networking scheme for multi-user access where more than two users can generate keys synchronously regardless of aligning reference frames and compensating channel disturbance on polarization. Third, we find a general method to distil secure keys from quantum discord, which is different to the previous entanglement-based frameworks of MDI-QKD, allowing imperfect preparation and measurement of quantum states. The series of work can help the practical application of MDI-QKD networks, and promote the development of quantum networks.
Abstract The possibility for quantum and classical communication to coexist on the same fiber is important for deployment and widespread adoption of quantum key distribution (QKD) and, more generally, a future quantum internet. While coexistence has been demonstrated for different QKD implementations, a comprehensive investigation for measurement-device independent (MDI) QKD—a recently proposed QKD protocol that cannot be broken by quantum hacking that targets vulnerabilities of single-photon detectors—is still missing. Here we experimentally demonstrate that MDI-QKD can operate simultaneously with at least five 10 Gbps bidirectional classical communication channels operating at around 1550 nm wavelength and over 40 km of spooled fiber, and we project communication rates in excess of 10 THz when moving the quantum channel from the third to the second telecommunication window. The similarity of MDI-QKD with quantum repeaters suggests that classical and generalized quantum networks can co-exist on the same fiber infrastructure.
Recently, a quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme based on entanglement swapping, called measurement-device-independent QKD (mdiQKD), was proposed to bypass all measurement side-channel attacks. While mdiQKD is conceptually elegant and offers a supreme level of security, the experimental complexity is challenging for practical systems. For instance, it requires interference between two widely separated independent single-photon sources, and the secret key rates are dependent on detecting two photons—one from each source. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle experiment of a QKD scheme that removes the need for a two-photon system and instead uses the idea of a two-qubit single-photon to significantly simplify the implementation and improve the efficiency of mdiQKD in several aspects.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDIQKD) protocol is immune to all attacks on detection and guarantees the information-theoretical security even with imperfect single-photon detectors. Recently, several proof-of-principle demonstrations of MDIQKD have been achieved. Those experiments, although novel, are implemented through limited distance with a key rate less than 0.1 bit/s. Here, by developing a 75 MHz clock rate fully automatic and highly stable system and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with detection efficiencies of more than 40%, we extend the secure transmission distance of MDIQKD to 200 km and achieve a secure key rate 3 orders of magnitude higher. These results pave the way towards a quantum network with measurement-device-independent security.