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arXiv:quant-ph/0103145 · Journal of Modern Optics

Performance of photon-pair quantum key distribution systems

Zachary Walton, Alexander V. Sergienko, Mete Atatüre, Bahaa E. A. Saleh, Malvin Carl Teich

Published Nov 1, 2001• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We analyse the quantitative improvement in performance provided by a novel quantum key distribution (QKD) system that employs a correlated photon source (CPS) and a photon-number resolving detector (PNR). Calculations suggest that given current technology, the CPS/PNR implementation offers an improvement of several orders of magnitude in secure bit rate over previously described implementations.

DOI
10.1080/09500340108235497

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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Dec 11, 2008•1 citation
We analyse the quantitative improvement in performance provided by a novel quantum key distribution (QKD) system that employs a correlated photon source (CPS) and a photon-number resolving detector (PNR). Calculations suggest that given current technology, the CPS/PNR implementation offers an improvement of several orders of magnitude in secure bit rate over previously described implementations.
The security of quantum key distribution (QKD) is established by a security proof, and the security proof puts some assumptions on the devices consisting of a QKD system. Among such assumptions, security proofs of the six-state protocol assume the use of photon number resolving (PNR) detector, and as a result the bit error rate threshold for secure key generation for the six-state protocol is higher than that for the BB84 protocol. Unfortunately, however, this type of detector is demanding in terms of technological level compared to the standard threshold detector, and removing the necessity of such a detector enhances the feasibility of the implementation of the six-state protocol. Here, we develop the security proof for the six-state protocol and show that we can use the threshold detector for the six-state protocol. Importantly, the bit error rate threshold for the key generation for the six-state protocol (12.611%) remains almost the same as the one (12.619%) that is derived from the existing security proofs assuming the use of PNR detectors. This clearly demonstrates feasibility of the six-state protocol with practical devices.
The passive decoy scheme represents a quantum key distribution protocol that employs a photon number resolving detector to selectively extract the decoy states from the signal states during post-processing. This selection process ensures resilience against attacks capable of distinguishing between these two states, thereby enhancing the security of the protocol. Previous research has emphasized the good performance of the protocol under optimal conditions. However, our study focuses on numerically evaluating the protocol performance in various practical scenarios. We aim to understand the implications of these scenarios in terms of the maximum attainable attenuation and bit rate per second, considering the number of photons per pulse sent under specific experimental conditions. Our findings demonstrate that opting for a low average photon number value ensures high tolerance to attenuation during communication, albeit at the cost of a reduced bit rate per second. Conversely, for lower attenuations, it is more advantageous to increase the average number of photons, even if it deviates from the ideal behaviour of a single-photon source. The benefit of selecting the decoy states at the end of the transmission remains consistent across different configurations. This research signifies an advancement in assessing the viability of incorporating the protocol within a practical QKD network.
We put forward a hybrid quantum key distribution protocol based on coherent states, Gaussian modulation, and photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors, and show that it may enhance the secret key generation rate (KGR) compared to homodyne-based schemes. Improvement in the KGR may be traced back to the dependence of the two-dimensional discrete output variable on both the input quadratures, thus overcoming the limitations of the original protocol. When reverse reconciliation is considered, the scheme based on PNR detectors outperforms the homodyne one both for individual and collective attacks. In the presence of direct reconciliation, the PNR strategy is still the best one against individual attacks, but for the collective ones the homodyne-based scheme is still to be preferred as the channel transmissivity decreases.
The performance of a practical quantum key distribution (QKD) system is often limited by the multi-photon state emission of its source and the dark counts of its detectors. Here, we present two methods to improve its performance. The first method is decoy state QKD: the sender randomly sends out weak coherent states with various average photon numbers (which are named as signal state and decoy states). In [14,15], we have performed the first experimental implementation of decoy state QKD over 15km and 60km respectively, thus dramatically increasing the distance and secure key generation rate of practical QKD systems. Our work has been followed up by many research groups worldwide [16-18]. The second scheme is QKD with "dual detectors" [19]: the legitimate receiver randomly uses either a fast (but noisy) detector or a quiet (but slow) detector to measure the incoming quantum signals. The measurement results from the quiet detector can be used to upper bound the eavesdropper's information, while the measurement results from the fast detector are used to generate a secure key. We applied this idea to various QKD protocols. Simulation results demonstrated significant improvements in both BB84 protocol with ideal single photon source and Gaussian-modulated coherent states protocol.
We propose a scheme of BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) with a triggered parametric down-conversion (PDC) source. According to different results of Alice's measurement using a photon number resolving (PNR) detector, we separate photon pulses into three sets to implement the passive decoy method. Performances of two different kinds of widely-used PNR detectors, TES and TMD, are investigated by simulation. With the parameters of PNR detectors nowadays, TES and TMD perform similarly. Both of them can improve the secure transmission distance up to 171 km. Furthermore, compared with the case using threshold detectors, this scheme can achieve a higher key generation rate.