Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Asia Communications and Photonics Conference

High-speed Secure Key Distribution with Polarization Modulation Boosted by Broadband Optical Chaos

Weidong Shao, Mengfan Cheng, Hanwen Luo, Lei Deng, Qi Yang, Deming Liu

Published Jan 1, 2021• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report a secure key distribution (SKD) scheme based on broadband opto-electronic Boolean chaos and polarization modulation for higher secure key generation rate (KGR). An error-free SKD with KGR of 3.6 Gb/s is experimentally demonstrated.
DOI
10.1364/acpc.2021.m4i.6

Related papers

High-speed secure key distribution using local polarization modulation driven by optical chaos in reciprocal fiber channel

Weidong Shao, Mengfan Cheng, Lei Deng +3 more

We propose a secure key distribution (SKD) based on local polarization modulation driven by optical chaos in a reciprocal fiber link. A robust error-free SKD with a key generation rate of 4.3 Gbit/s over transmission of 10-km standard single-mode fiber is experimentally demonstrated. A chaotic laser system shared by legitimate users serves as an external wideband entropy source. The polarization reciprocity of the fiber channel provides fundamental safety against eavesdropping. The robustness of SKD resulted from local chaotic polarization modulation is also theoretically analyzed and then verified by practical performance. The proposed scheme is an alternative SKD strategy with high speed and strong security.

Optics Letters•Nov 8, 2021•33 citations

Secure key distribution based on the polarization reciprocity of fiber and a coherent reception architecture

Taihang Qiu, Weidong Shao, Lei Deng +5 more

Secure key distribution (SKD) schemes based on the interaction between a broadband chaotic source and the reciprocity of a fiber channel exhibit reliable security and a high key generation rate (KGR). However, under the intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) architecture, these SKD schemes cannot achieve a long distribution distance due to the limitations on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the receiver's sensitivity. Here, based on the advantage of the high sensitivity of coherent reception, we design a coherent-SKD structure where orthogonal polarization states are locally modulated by a broadband chaotic signal and the single-frequency local oscillator (LO) light is transmitted bidirectionally in the optical fiber. The proposed structure not only utilizes the polarization reciprocity of optical fiber but also largely eliminates the non-reciprocity factor, which can effectively extend the distribution distance. The experiment realized an error-free SKD with a transmission distance of 50 km and a KGR of 1.85 Gbit/s.

Optics Letters•Jun 1, 2023•17 citations

High-speed secure key distribution based on chaos synchronization in optically pumped QD spin-polarized VCSELs

Yu Huang, Pei Zhou, Nianqiang Li

We propose and numerically demonstrate a high-speed secure key distribution (SKD) based on polarization-keying chaos synchronization in two quantum dot (QD) spin-polarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) without any external feedback. In this scheme, high-quality chaos synchronization can be obtained when the response lasers have the same polarization ellipticity. The proposed SKD scheme is benefited from the feasible tunability of the pump polarization ellipticity, and no other complex components are necessary. Moreover, the open-loop configuration is constructed in the commonly driven lasers and results in a short synchronization recovery time of hundreds of picoseconds, which is much shorter than that in most previous reports. Combined with these merits, a 1.34 Gb/s SKD with a bit error ratio lower than 3.8 × 10 −3 can be achieved. The current study provides a new way to realize high-speed physical key distribution.

Optics Express•May 29, 2021•46 citations

Stable secure key distribution scheme via orthogonal polarizations and a joint source-channel model

Weidong Shao, Taihang Qiu, Lei Deng +4 more

Optical secure key distribution (SKD) based on reciprocity has been the subject of increasing discussion, for its inherent information-theoretic safety and because there is less occupation of fiber channels. The combination of reciprocal polarization and broadband entropy sources has proven effective in increasing the rate of SKD. However, the stabilization of such systems suffers from the limited span of polarization states and inconsistent polarization detection. The specific causes are analyzed in principle. To solve this issue, we propose a strategy for extracting secure keys from orthogonal polarizations. Optical carriers with orthogonal polarizations at interactive parties are modulated by external random signals using polarization division multiplexing dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators. After bidirectional transmission through a 10-km fiber channel, error-free SKD with a rate of 2.07 Gbit/s is experimentally realized. The high correlation coefficient of the extracted analog vectors can be maintained for over 30 min. The proposed method is a step toward the development of secure communication with high speed and feasibility.

Optics Letters•Nov 1, 2022•12 citations

284.8-Mb/s Physical-Layer Cryptographic Key Generation and Distribution in Fiber Networks

Adnan A. E. Hajomer, Liuming Zhang, Xuelin Yang +1 more

Key distribution is a major challenge of secure communication. Computational approaches to key distribution are breached by quantum algorithms, while quantum key distribution (QKD) is an expensive, slow, and sophisticated solution. Secure key generation and distribution from unpredictable and inherent physical-layer properties of optical fiber channel is a classical, simple and cost-effective solution. However, the quasi-static nature of fiber channels dramatically limits the available key generation rate (KGR) to the order of ~kbit/s. Here we effectively accelerate the KGR by six orders of magnitude using a developed high-speed chaotic polarization scrambler (CPS) driven by digital chaos in fiber channels. An error-free KGR of 284.8 Mbit/s is experimentally demonstrated over a 24 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), where the generated key passes the random test suite. Moreover, we fully analyze the security mechanism and find that a strong asymmetry exists between legal and illegal users, ensuring a high-level of security against potential fiber-tapping attacks. This scheme provides a major step towards the practical implementation of the “one-time-pad” in secure data transmission over fiber networks.

Journal of Lightwave Technology•Dec 8, 2020•46 citations

2.7 Gb/s Secure Key Generation and Distribution Using Bidirectional Polarization Scrambler in Fiber

Liuming Zhang, Adnan A. E. Hajomer, Weisheng Hu +1 more

A physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) scheme in classical fiber channel is proposed and demonstrated using a bidirectional wide-band polarization scrambler (WBPS), to alter rapidly and symmetrically the state of polarization (SOP) for the two counter-propagating optical signals in fiber. Due to the optical channel reciprocity, highly-consistent key bits can be extracted from the correlated SOP fluctuations, while the key secrecy is ensured by the fiber channel uniqueness. A final key generation rate (KGR) of 2.7 Gb/s is demonstrated over 10 km single mode fiber (SMF), where error-free and true randomness of the generated key are achieved after post-processing. The obtained KGR at Gb/s makes a further step towards the implementation of one-time-pad data encryption with perfect secrecy in fiber networks.

IEEE Photonics Technology Letters•Feb 11, 2021•36 citations
We propose a secure key distribution (SKD) based on local polarization modulation driven by optical chaos in a reciprocal fiber link. A robust error-free SKD with a key generation rate of 4.3 Gbit/s over transmission of 10-km standard single-mode fiber is experimentally demonstrated. A chaotic laser system shared by legitimate users serves as an external wideband entropy source. The polarization reciprocity of the fiber channel provides fundamental safety against eavesdropping. The robustness of SKD resulted from local chaotic polarization modulation is also theoretically analyzed and then verified by practical performance. The proposed scheme is an alternative SKD strategy with high speed and strong security.
Secure key distribution (SKD) schemes based on the interaction between a broadband chaotic source and the reciprocity of a fiber channel exhibit reliable security and a high key generation rate (KGR). However, under the intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) architecture, these SKD schemes cannot achieve a long distribution distance due to the limitations on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the receiver's sensitivity. Here, based on the advantage of the high sensitivity of coherent reception, we design a coherent-SKD structure where orthogonal polarization states are locally modulated by a broadband chaotic signal and the single-frequency local oscillator (LO) light is transmitted bidirectionally in the optical fiber. The proposed structure not only utilizes the polarization reciprocity of optical fiber but also largely eliminates the non-reciprocity factor, which can effectively extend the distribution distance. The experiment realized an error-free SKD with a transmission distance of 50 km and a KGR of 1.85 Gbit/s.
We propose and numerically demonstrate a high-speed secure key distribution (SKD) based on polarization-keying chaos synchronization in two quantum dot (QD) spin-polarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) without any external feedback. In this scheme, high-quality chaos synchronization can be obtained when the response lasers have the same polarization ellipticity. The proposed SKD scheme is benefited from the feasible tunability of the pump polarization ellipticity, and no other complex components are necessary. Moreover, the open-loop configuration is constructed in the commonly driven lasers and results in a short synchronization recovery time of hundreds of picoseconds, which is much shorter than that in most previous reports. Combined with these merits, a 1.34 Gb/s SKD with a bit error ratio lower than 3.8 × 10 −3 can be achieved. The current study provides a new way to realize high-speed physical key distribution.
Optical secure key distribution (SKD) based on reciprocity has been the subject of increasing discussion, for its inherent information-theoretic safety and because there is less occupation of fiber channels. The combination of reciprocal polarization and broadband entropy sources has proven effective in increasing the rate of SKD. However, the stabilization of such systems suffers from the limited span of polarization states and inconsistent polarization detection. The specific causes are analyzed in principle. To solve this issue, we propose a strategy for extracting secure keys from orthogonal polarizations. Optical carriers with orthogonal polarizations at interactive parties are modulated by external random signals using polarization division multiplexing dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators. After bidirectional transmission through a 10-km fiber channel, error-free SKD with a rate of 2.07 Gbit/s is experimentally realized. The high correlation coefficient of the extracted analog vectors can be maintained for over 30 min. The proposed method is a step toward the development of secure communication with high speed and feasibility.
Key distribution is a major challenge of secure communication. Computational approaches to key distribution are breached by quantum algorithms, while quantum key distribution (QKD) is an expensive, slow, and sophisticated solution. Secure key generation and distribution from unpredictable and inherent physical-layer properties of optical fiber channel is a classical, simple and cost-effective solution. However, the quasi-static nature of fiber channels dramatically limits the available key generation rate (KGR) to the order of ~kbit/s. Here we effectively accelerate the KGR by six orders of magnitude using a developed high-speed chaotic polarization scrambler (CPS) driven by digital chaos in fiber channels. An error-free KGR of 284.8 Mbit/s is experimentally demonstrated over a 24 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), where the generated key passes the random test suite. Moreover, we fully analyze the security mechanism and find that a strong asymmetry exists between legal and illegal users, ensuring a high-level of security against potential fiber-tapping attacks. This scheme provides a major step towards the practical implementation of the “one-time-pad” in secure data transmission over fiber networks.
A physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) scheme in classical fiber channel is proposed and demonstrated using a bidirectional wide-band polarization scrambler (WBPS), to alter rapidly and symmetrically the state of polarization (SOP) for the two counter-propagating optical signals in fiber. Due to the optical channel reciprocity, highly-consistent key bits can be extracted from the correlated SOP fluctuations, while the key secrecy is ensured by the fiber channel uniqueness. A final key generation rate (KGR) of 2.7 Gb/s is demonstrated over 10 km single mode fiber (SMF), where error-free and true randomness of the generated key are achieved after post-processing. The obtained KGR at Gb/s makes a further step towards the implementation of one-time-pad data encryption with perfect secrecy in fiber networks.