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Optica Pura y Aplicada

Quantum key distribution via frequency translation in a nonlinear optical fiber

Depto. de Ingenierıa en Telecomunicaciones, Instituto Balseiro, Comision Nacional de Energıa Atomica, J. Bonetti

Published Jun 30, 2023• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a simple and original implementation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol via a quantum frequency-translation process in a nonlinear optical fiber.Unlike most conventional quantum key distribution implementations, which rely on the photon polarization/phase, encoding quantum information in the photon frequency state is inherently more stable against mechanical and/or thermal fluctuations over transmission media such as optical fibers.We also show the proposed scheme to be naturally expandable to larger character sets, and demonstrate a straightforward extension to a four-character alphabet (qu-quarts), providing enhanced security for quantum key distribution applications.

DOI
10.7149/opa.56.2.51118

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We propose a simple and original implementation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol via a quantum frequency-translation process in a nonlinear optical fiber.Unlike most conventional quantum key distribution implementations, which rely on the photon polarization/phase, encoding quantum information in the photon frequency state is inherently more stable against mechanical and/or thermal fluctuations over transmission media such as optical fibers.We also show the proposed scheme to be naturally expandable to larger character sets, and demonstrate a straightforward extension to a four-character alphabet (qu-quarts), providing enhanced security for quantum key distribution applications.
We propose a novel scheme to implement the BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol in optical fibers based on a quantum frequency-translation (QFT) process. Unlike conventional QKD systems, which rely on photon polarization/phase to encode qubits, our proposal utilizes photons of different frequencies. Qubits are thus expected to reach longer propagation distances due to the photon frequency state being more robust against mechanical and/or thermal fluctuations of the transmitting medium. Finally, we put forth an extension to a security-enhanced four-character-alphabet (qu-quarts) QKD scheme.
Entanglement is an essential ingredient in many quantum communication protocols. In particular, entanglement can be exploited in quantum key distribution (QKD) to generate two correlated random bit strings whose randomness is guaranteed by the nonlocal property of quantum mechanics. Most of QKD protocols tested to date rely on polarization and/or time-bin encoding. Despite compatibility with existing fiber-optic infrastructure and ease of manipulation with standard components, frequency-bin QKD have not yet been fully explored. Here we report a demonstration of entanglement-based QKD using frequency-bin encoding. We implement the BBM92 protocol using photon pairs generated by two independent, high-finesse, ring resonators on a silicon photonic chip. We perform a passive basis selection scheme and simultaneously record sixteen projective measurements. A key finding is that frequency-bin encoding is sensitive to the random phase noise induced by thermal fluctuations of the environment. To correct for this effect, we developed a real-time adaptive phase rotation of the measurement basis, achieving stable transmission over a 26 km fiber spool with a secure key rate ≥ 4.5 bit/s. Our work introduces a new degree of freedom for the realization of entangled based QKD protocols in telecom networks.
Entanglement is an essential ingredient in many quantum communication protocols. In particular, entanglement can be exploited in quantum key distribution (QKD) to generate two correlated random bit strings whose randomness is guaranteed by the non-local property of quantum mechanics. While QKD protocols based on polarization and time-bin entanglement have been widely investigated, secure key distribution based on frequency-bin entangled photon sources have received only minor attentions.Here we experimentally implement the BBM92 protocol using a frequency-bin encoded entangled state, generated by an integrated source of photon pairs in a silicon photonic chip. We execute a passive basis selection scheme and simultaneously record sixteen projective measurements over two mutually unbiased basis sets. An adaptive rotation of the measurement base is introduced to compensate the random relative phase fluctuation between the two 15-GHz-spaced frequency bins in a fiber spool.Stable transmission over a 26 km fiber spool is demonstrated with a secret key rate ≥ 4.5 bit/s.
A quantum key distribution system based on the subcarrier wave modulation method has been demonstrated which employs the BB84 protocol with a strong reference to generate secure bits at a rate of 16.5 kbit/s with an error of 0.5% over an optical channel of 10 dB loss, and 18 bits/s with an error of 0.75% over 25 dB of channel loss. To the best of our knowledge, these results represent the highest channel loss reported for secure quantum key distribution using the subcarrier wave approach. A passive unidirectional scheme has been used to compensate for the polarization dependence of the phase modulators in the receiver module, which resulted in a high visibility of 98.8%. The system is thus fully insensitive to polarization fluctuations and robust to environmental changes, making the approach promising for use in optical telecommunication networks. Further improvements in secure key rate and transmission distance can be achieved by implementing the decoy states protocol or by optimizing the mean photon number used in line with experimental parameters.
We report the first experimental demonstration hybrid transmission of ultra-stable optical frequency references and quantum key distribution (QKD) signals over a homogeneous multi-core fiber (MCF). The frequency transfer system achieves frequency stabilization at the remote site via active phase noise compensation. A QKD system implementing the BB84 phase-encoding protocol with decoy states is integrated within the platform. Successful hybrid transmission of optical frequency references and quantum signals is achieved over 10 km 7-core fiber. The integrated transmission system achieves a frequency stability of 8×10−18at 1s and 3.45×10−19at 10000 s, with a quantum bit error rate (QBER) of 2.54%.
High-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) allows achievement of information-theoretic secure communications, providing high key-generation rates, which cannot, in principle, be obtained by QKD protocols with binary encoding. Nonetheless, the amount of experimental resources needed increases as the quantum states to be detected belong to a larger Hilbert space, thus raising the costs of practical high-dimensional systems. Here, we present an alternative scheme for fiber-based four-dimensional QKD, with time and phase encoding and one-decoy state technique. Quantum state transmission is tested over different channel lengths up to 145 km of standard single-mode fiber, evaluating the enhancement of the secret key rate in comparison to the three-state two-dimensional BB84 protocol, which is tested with the same experimental setup. Our scheme allows measurement of the four-dimensional states with a simplified and compact receiver, where only two single-photon detectors are necessary, thus making it a cost-effective solution for practical and fiber-based QKD.