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Optics Express

Proof-of-principle demonstration of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution based on intrinsically stable polarization-modulated units

Yiping Yuan, Cong Du, Qi-Qi Shen, Jindong Wang, Ya‐Fei Yu, Zhengjun Wei, Zhaoxi Chen, Zhi‐Ming Zhang

Published Mar 23, 2020• 9 citations

Abstract

The experimental demonstration of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) has been widely demonstrated. Thus far, several experimental groups have implemented polarization encoding MDI-QKD but with manual polarization controllers, or polarization modulators that make circular polarization states unstable. Here, we apply an intrinsically stable polarization-modulated unit (PMU) to MDI-QKD so that Alice and Bob can modulate four BB84 polarization states, all of which can be kept stable from even the harsh environment. Moreover, our PMU can provide two operational polarization encoding modes suitable to different application scenarios. A proof-of-principle demonstration of MDI-QKD based on our PMU is implemented with an interference visibility of 46.6%, an average quantum bit error rate of 1.49% for the Z basis and the secure key rate of 4.25 × 10−6 bits per pulse. The proposed study is helpful for building polarization encoding MDI-QKD systems with better stability.

DOI: 10.1364/oe.387968

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There are several groups have implemented polarization encoding measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD). However, these groups use manual polarization controller to achieve the initial polarization state for encoders, and some of the encoders cannot fully satisfy the two bases for polarization encoding quantum key distribution. Here, we apply an all-fiber and calibration-free intrinsically stable polarization-modulated unit (APMU), which can maintain stable encoding for several hours without any calibration. A proof-of-principle demonstration of MDI-QKD based on our APMU is implemented with the four-intensity decoy state protocol. The proposed APMU can realize stable MDI-QKD encoding and simplify the operation for Alice and Bob, which makes the polarization encoding MDI-QKD more practical.

A proof-of-principle demonstration of a one-way polarization encoding quantum key distribution (QKD) system is demonstrated. This approach can automatically compensate for birefringence and phase drift. This is achieved by constructing intrinsically stable polarization-modulated units (PMUs) to perform the encoding and decoding, which can be used with four-state protocol, six-state protocol, and the measurement-device-independent (MDI) scheme. A polarization extinction ratio of about 30 dB was maintained for several hours over a 50 km optical fiber without any adjustments to our setup, which evidences its potential for use in practical applications.

We perform a proof-of-principle demonstration of the measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol using weak coherent states and polarization-encoded qubits over two optical fiber links of 8.5 km each. Each link was independently stabilized against polarization drifts using a full-polarization control system employing two wavelength-multiplexed control channels. A linear-optics-based polarization Bell-state analyzer was built into the intermediate station, Charlie, which is connected to both Alice and Bob via the optical fiber links. Using decoy-states, a lower bound for the secret-key generation rate of 1.04x10^-6 bits/pulse is computed.

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) is an efficient way to share secrets using untrusted measurement devices. However, the assumption on the characterizations of encoding states is still necessary in this promising protocol, which may lead to unnecessary complexity and potential loopholes in realistic implementations. Here, by using the mismatched-basis statistics, we present the first proof-of-principle experiment of MDI QKD with uncharacterized encoding sources. In this demonstration, the encoded states are only required to be constrained in a two-dimensional Hilbert space, and two distant parties (Alice and Bob) are resistant to state preparation flaws even if they have no idea about the detailed information of their encoding states. The positive final secure key rates of our system exhibit the feasibility of this novel protocol, and demonstrate its value for the application of secure communication with uncharacterized devices.

The correctness of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) has been demonstrated in tremendous amount of researches. There is an interesting proposal which can collect all coincidences by transforming two pairs of orthogonal polarization states into the encoding states of MDI-QKD. The attempt is meaningful. Here, based on this proposal, we realize a proof-of-principle demonstration. Only one phase modulator is applied to encode the qubits. The phase-reference-frame is aligned by modulating the phase modulator of the phase modulation unit. We modulate the signals into three intensities, and a secure key rate of bits per pulse is successfully demonstrated. Our experimental system simplifies the encoding process and has the potential to implement the reference-frame-independent MDI-QKD protocol.

We demonstrate the first implementation of polarization encoding measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), which is immune to all detector side-channel attacks. Active phase randomization of each individual pulse is implemented to protect against attacks on imperfect sources. By optimizing the parameters in the decoy state protocol, we show that it is feasible to implement polarization encoding MDI-QKD with commercial off-the-shelf devices. A rigorous finite key analysis is applied to estimate the secure key rate. Our work paves the way for the realization of a MDI-QKD network, in which the users only need compact and low-cost state-preparation devices and can share complicated and expensive detectors provided by an untrusted network server.