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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

High-fidelity continuous-variable quantum key distribution via the proper combination of zero-photon catalysis and quantum scissors

Khatereh Jafari, Mojtaba Golshani, Alireza Bahrampour

Published Jan 30, 2023• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how the combination of zero-photon catalysis (ZPC) and a quantum scissors (QS) intensifies the range and the fidelity of a continuous-variable quantum key distribution CV-QKD protocol. Using a non-Gaussian calculation, we realized that the QS significantly boosts the range of the protocol and enhances its fidelity at long distances. At negligible values of excess noise, ZPC operation leads to incredibly high fidelity values, even at large distances. In this case, an optimal strength of the ZPC operation exists that maximizes the secure distance of the protocol. Finally, our study of a system with a nonzero value of excess noise reveals that the fidelity generally increases with ZPC, as opposed to the range, which decreases with this Gaussian operation.

DOI
10.1364/josab.484272

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In this paper, we examine how the combination of zero-photon catalysis (ZPC) and a quantum scissors (QS) intensifies the range and the fidelity of a continuous-variable quantum key distribution CV-QKD protocol. Using a non-Gaussian calculation, we realized that the QS significantly boosts the range of the protocol and enhances its fidelity at long distances. At negligible values of excess noise, ZPC operation leads to incredibly high fidelity values, even at large distances. In this case, an optimal strength of the ZPC operation exists that maximizes the secure distance of the protocol. Finally, our study of a system with a nonzero value of excess noise reveals that the fidelity generally increases with ZPC, as opposed to the range, which decreases with this Gaussian operation.
In this paper, we derive a closed-form expression for the output state of a CV-QKD protocol in the presence of zero-photon catalysis (ZPC) and a quantum scissor (QS). Then, based on this closed-form solution, we use a direct search algorithm to find the appropriate values of input state and QS parameters, which considerably enhance the range and the fidelity of a CV-QKD protocol. In the special case of pure loss channel, the largest range of the protocol is only 6.5% less than the fundamental limit of repeaterless quantum communication. In addition, examination of the protocol for different values of excess noise, reveals that there is a trade-off between range and fidelity, and a high value of fidelity can be obtained at the cost of a slight reduction in protocol range.
In this paper, we derive a closed form expression for the output state of a CV-QKD protocol in the presence of zero-photon catalysis (ZPC) and quantum scissor (QS). Then, based on this closed form solution, we use direct search algorithm to find the appropriate values of input state and QS parameters, which considerably enhance the range and the fidelity of a CV-QKD protocol. In the special case of pure loss channel, the largest range of the protocol is only 6.5% less than the fundamental limit of repeaterless quantum communication. In addition, examination of the protocol for different values of excess noise, reveals that their is a trade-off between range and fidelity, and high value of fidelity can be obtained at the cost of a slight reduction in protocol range.
It is known that quantum scissors, as non-deterministic amplifiers, can enhance the performance of Gaussian-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) in noisy and long-distance regimes of operation. Here, we extend this result to a non-Gaussian CV-QKD protocol with discrete modulation. We show that, by using a proper setting, the use of quantum scissors in the receiver of such discrete-modulation CV-QKD protocols would allow us to achieve positive secret key rates at high loss and high excess noise regimes of operation, which would have been otherwise impossible. This also keeps the prospect of running discrete-modulation CV-QKD over CV quantum repeaters alive.
Quantum catalysis is a feasible approach to increase the performance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD), involving the special zero-photon catalysis (ZPC) operation. However, in the practical point of view, the improvement effect of this operation will be limited by the imperfection of the photon detector. In this paper, we show that the ZPC operation at the sender can be simulated by a post-selection method without implementing it in practical devices. While performing this virtual version of ZPC in CVQKD, we can not only reach the ideal case of its practical implementation with minimal hardware requirement, but also keep the benefit of Gaussian security proofs. Based on Gaussian modulated coherent state protocols with achievable parameters, we enhance the security of the proposed scheme from the asymptotical case to the finite-size scenario and composable framework. Simulation results show that similar to the asymptotical case, both the maximal transmission distance and the tolerable excess noise of virtual ZPC-involved CVQKD outperform the original scheme and the scheme using virtual photon subtraction while considering finite-size effect and composable security. In addition, the virtual ZPC-involved CVQKD can tolerate a higher imperfection of the detector, enabling its practical implementation of the CVQKD system with state-of-the-art technology.
It is known that quantum scissors, as non-deterministic amplifiers, can enhance the performance of Gaussian-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) in noisy and long-distance regimes of operation. Here, we extend this result to a non-Gaussian CV-QKD protocol with discrete modulation. We show that, by using a proper setting, the use of quantum scissors in the receiver of such discrete-modulation CV-QKD protocols would allow us to achieve positive secret key rates at high loss and high excess noise regimes of operation, which would have been otherwise impossible. This also keeps the prospect of running discrete-modulation CV-QKD over CV quantum repeaters alive.
Quantum photon-catalysis operations can be utilized for improving the performance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) systems. Motivated by characteristics of quantum photon-catalysis operations that can be implemented by the existing technologies, we consider the performance improvement of self-referenced (SR) CVQKD involving zero-photon catalysis operation. We find that the zero-photon catalysis can be regarded as a noiseless attenuation, and the numerical simulations show that the zero-photon catalysis (ZPC)-based SR-CVQKD scheme outperforms the original SR-CVQKD scheme. In addition, to highlight the advantage of applying zero-photon catalysis operation into SR-CVQKD systems, we make a comparison about the performances between the ZPC-based SR-CVQKD scheme and the previous single-photon subtraction (SPS)-based SR-CVQKD scheme. Numerical simulations show that the ZPC-based SR-CVQKD is superior to the single-photon subtraction case with respect to the transmission distance and the tolerable excess noise. Especially, the ZPC-based SR-CVQKD allows the lower quantum detection efficiency and the higher electronic noise to achieve the same performance. These results show that the proposed protocol is expected to provide theoretical reference for the practical application of SR-CVQKD in metropolitan areas.