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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Monte-Carlo-based dynamic air–water cross-media channel for continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Sijie Yun, Hao Wu, Sian Ren, Xinchao Ruan, Hang Zhang, Ying Guo

Published Sep 6, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Cross-media and confidentiality are key features of next-generation optical communications. Quantum communication is regarded as a promising new form of secure communication. However, the cross-media transmission of quantum pulses tends to suffer from severe attenuation, which inevitably degrades the security of the whole system. In this paper, we consider the configuration of the continuous-variable quantum key distribution through an air–water cross-media channel that involves the lower-atmospheric channel, the underwater channel, and the air–water interface. We consider the effect of air bubbles in seawater, and the effect of the dynamic air–water interface as well. In particular, dynamic characteristics of light extinction and fluctuations caused by seawater and bubbles have been demonstrated with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Based on this MC-based model, we demonstrate the communication viability, and simulation results show that in clear seawater conditions with a wind speed of 5 m/s and a zenith angle of 15°, the receiver is able to achieve an effective secret key rate (10 −4 bits/pulse) even at 9.71 m depth. Smaller zenith angles and lower wind speeds contribute to an increase in the interface secret key rate.

DOI
10.1364/josab.496138

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Considering the ocean water’s optical attenuation and the roughness of the sea surface, we analyze the security of continuous-variable (CV) quantum key distribution (QKD) based air-to-water channel. The effects of the absorption and scattering on the transmittance of underwater quantum channel and the maximum secure transmission distance are studied. Considering the roughness of the sea surface, we simulate the performance bounds of CV QKD with different wind speeds using the Monte Carlo method. The results show that even if the secret key rate gradually reduces as the wind speed increases, the maximum transmission distance will not be affected obviously. Compared to the works regarding short-distance underwater optical communication, our research represents a significant step towards establishing secure communication between air platform and submarine vehicle .
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Considering the irregular air-water interface, incident angle, environmental background light and optical attenuation, the system model of quantum key distribution (QKD) based on air-water channel is built. And the influence of wind speed and incident angle on the error rate of system is discussed. Besides, under different attenuation coefficients, the effect of actual incident angle and environmental background light on system performance is studied. The simulations show that when the descending photon passes through the air-water interface, the raise of wind speed leads to an increase in error rate. Similarly, the enlarging of actual incident angle also causes the growth of error rate and shortens the transmission distance of QKD system. Moreover, since the environmental background light can seriously damage the system performance, the QKD experiment should be conducted on cloudy night. With the maximum error rate on cloudy night, the secure transmission distance in clear seawater can reach 252 m, which obviously meets the need of 100 m diving depth for underwater vehicles. In medium seawater and turbid seawater, they are 42 m and 25 m, respectively. Auxiliary means (such as towing buoys) can be used to extend the transmission distance of QKD. Therefore, the QKD system based on air-water channel is feasible, which has certain reference value to expand QKD applications.
The trans-media transmission of quantum pulse is one of means of free-space transmission which can be applied in continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) system. In traditional implementations for atmospheric channels, the 1500-to-1600-nm pulse is regarded as an ideal quantum pulse carrier. However, the underwater transmission of this pulses tends to suffer from severe attenuation, which inevitably deteriorates the security of the whole CVQKD system. In this paper, we propose an alternative scheme for implementations of CVQKD over satellite-to-submarine channels. We estimate the parameters of the trans-media channels, involving atmosphere, sea surface and seawater and find that the short-wave infrared performs well in the above channels. The 450-nm pulse is used for generations of quantum signal carriers to accomplish quantum communications through atmosphere, sea surface and seawater channels. Numerical simulations show that the proposed scheme can achieve the transmission distance of 600 km. In addition, we demonstrate that non-Gaussian operations can further lengthen its maximal transmission distance, which contributes to the establishment of practical global quantum networks.