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Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition

Toward fully operational quantum key distribution networks using polarization entanglement

Yoann Pelet, Grégory Sauder, Sébastien Tanzilli, Anthony Martin, Olivier Alibart

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the development and real-field test of a fully automated, self stabilizing QKD setup exploiting polarization entanglement, allowing to perform real-field QKD experiment for hundreds of hours, without requiring any operator.
DOI
10.1364/quantum.2025.qm2b.4

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We present a field-deployed quantum key distribution (QKD) link based on energy-time entanglement. Three nodes are connected, bridging the cities of Nice and Sophia Antipolis, by means of commercial grade optical fibers, spanning over a total distance of 50 km. We have built a packaged and resilient source of energy-time entangled photon pairs and implemented remote interferometer stabilization. Moreover, the clocks of the two end users are synchronized exploiting photon-counting techniques only, therefore requiring no dedicated channel. The system runs over the ITU 100-GHz standard telecom grid, through which a secure key rate of 7.0 kbit/s is extracted for one pair of channels. A homemade software performs all the necessary postprocessing procedures enabling to establish secret keys in real time. We present the first fully operational entanglement-based metropolitan QKD system being totally self-sufficient, i.e., requiring no additional overheads to be operated on a conventional metropolitan fiber network.