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Education and Training in Optics and Photonics

Experimental analogy experiment on quantum key distribution with the BB84-protocol

Kim Kappl, Simon Koppenhöfer, R. Nawrodt, Philipp Scheiger

Published Jul 7, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Since quantum technologies of the second generation are becoming more and more important in today’s society, we need to find ways to make them more understandable on a high school level. With this contribution we present a new analogy experiment on the topic of quantum key distribution with the BB84-protocol based on a Thorlabs education setup, which is implemented in the school laboratory at the University of Stuttgart.

DOI
10.1117/12.3076850

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Since quantum technologies of the second generation are becoming more and more important in today’s society, we need to find ways to make them more understandable on a high school level. With this contribution we present a new analogy experiment on the topic of quantum key distribution with the BB84-protocol based on a Thorlabs education setup, which is implemented in the school laboratory at the University of Stuttgart.
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Abstract It has become increasingly common for high-school students to see media reports on the importance of quantum mechanics in the development of next-generation industries such as drug development and secure communication, but few of them have been exposed to fundamental quantum mechanical concepts in a meaningful classroom activity. In order to bridge this gap, we design and implement a low-cost 20 min demonstration of the Bell test, which is used in several entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocols. The demonstration introduces ideas such as the quantum state, quantum measurement, spin quantization, cryptography, and entanglement; all without using concepts beyond the 9th grade of the Chilean high-school curriculum. The demonstration can serve to promote early exposure of the future adopters and developers of quantum technology with its conceptual building blocks, and also to educate the general public about the importance of quantum mechanics in modern industry.
Abstract This laboratory work presents a practical implementation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol using the Qiskit framework. The material is based on educational resources developed by the International Quantum Center at CERN (Switzerland) and is intended to provide hands-on experience with quantum circuit construction, quantum state preparation, and quantum cryptographic principles. In Laboratory Work No. 2, participants model the BB84 protocol within a quantum computing environment, emphasizing both theoretical understanding and executable circuit design. The experiment employs quantum circuits to prepare Bell states and to generate random bits as part of the quantum key distribution process. Visual representations of Bell states in the computational and Hadamard bases are analyzed to illustrate their orthonormal structure and physical interpretation. The quantum system is initialized and transformed into Bell states using the Composer interface by applying the Hadamard (H) gate to the first qubit q[0]q[0]q[0] and subsequently entangling it with the second qubit q[1]q[1]q[1]. This procedure produces orthonormal state vectors that form the basis for secure quantum communication. The laboratory work demonstrates how entanglement, basis selection, and measurement outcomes contribute to the security properties of BB84. The guide highlights the hybrid quantum-classical workflow implemented in Qiskit and provides a step-by-step framework for simulating quantum key distribution protocols on cloud-accessible quantum hardware and simulators. Through this practical exercise, participants gain insight into the physical foundations of quantum cryptography, probabilistic measurement, and the implementation of quantum communication protocols in modern quantum computing ecosystems.
As the digital front becomes our new frontier, and digital data becomes increasingly vulnerable to highly sophisticated cyber attacks, conventional encryption approaches may no longer be sufficient to withstand a quantum attack. The focus of this work is to deploy a simulation of the BB84 protocol, one of the first Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocols developed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. The simulation involves two communicating parties, Alice and Bob, with Bob creating a secret keys generated cryptographically and sending it reliably over to Alice using quantum bits, or qubits. By leveraging quantum mechanics, this protocol ensures that any interception can be identified, thus bolstering both the integrity and confidentiality of the key exchange through scientists' understanding of superposition and the no-cloning principle. In the simulation, the potential of quantum communication to achieve secure key distribution over an insecure channel is demonstrated. Differently from traditional encryption protocols, QKD guarantees security not on computational but on physical basis. The aim of this paper is to show the feasibility and robustness of the BB84 protocol for actual cryptographic applications. This models the protocol between Alice and Bob, which paves the way for quantum-proof encryption systems and is a relevant step towards next generation cyber security.
Public key cryptosystems can well become void with the advent of incredibly high performance quantum computers. The underlying principles of these computers themselves, namely quantum mechanics, provide the solution to the key distribution problem. This paper explains how cryptography will be benefited from quantum mechanics, through a short introduction to classical cryptography, and the general principles of quantum cryptography and the BB84 protocol for key distribution. Then we review a modification to the BB84 protocol that is logically claimed to increase its efficiency. We then validate this claim by presenting our simulation results for BB84 and its improved protocols and show that the efficiency of the improved protocol could be doubled without undermining the security level of BB84 protocol.