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arXiv:quant-ph/0501160 · Optics Express

Continuous operation of a one-way quantum key distribution system over installed telecom fibre

Zhiliang L. Yuan, Andrew J. Shields

Published Jan 1, 2005• 85 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We demonstrate a robust, compact and automated quantum key distribution system, based upon a one-way Mach-Zender interferometer, which is actively compensated for temporal drifts in the photon phase and polarization. The system gives a superior performance to passive compensation schemes with an average quantum bit error rate of 0.87% and a duty cycle of 99.6% for a continuous quantum key distribution session of 19 hours over a 20.3km installed telecom fibre. The results suggest that actively compensated QKD systems are suitable for practical applications.

DOI
10.1364/opex.13.000660

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We demonstrate a robust, compact and automated quantum key distribution system, based upon a one-way Mach-Zender interferometer, which is actively compensated for temporal drifts in the photon phase and polarization. The system gives a superior performance to passive compensation schemes with an average quantum bit error rate of 0.87% and a duty cycle of 99.6% for a continuous quantum key distribution session of 19 hours over a 20.3km installed telecom fibre. The results suggest that actively compensated QKD systems are suitable for practical applications.
We demonstrate a quantum key distribution (QKD) implementation over deployed dark telecom fibers with polarization-entangled photons generated at the O-band. One of the photons in the pairs is propagated through 10 km of deployed fiber, while the others are detected locally. Polarization drifts experienced by the photons propagating through the fibers are compensated with liquid crystal variable retarders. This ensures continuous and stable QKD operation with an average quantum bit error rate of 6.4% and a final key rate of 109 bits/s.
We developed a one-way quantum key distribution (QKD) system based upon a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) interferometer. This interferometer is expected to be free from the backscattering inherent in commercially available two-way QKD systems and phase drift without active compensation. A key distribution experiment with spools of standard telecom fiber showed that the bit error rate was as low as 6% for a 100-km key distribution using an attenuated laser pulse with a mean photon number of 0.1 and was determined solely by the detector noise. This clearly demonstrates the advantages of our PLC-based one-way QKD system over two-way QKD systems for long distance key distribution.
We developed a one-way quantum key distribution (QKD) system based upon a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) interferometer. This interferometer is expected to be free from the backscattering inherent in commercially available two-way QKD systems and phase drift without active compensation. A key distribution experiment with spools of standard telecom fiber showed that the bit error rate was as low as 6% for a 100-km key distribution using an attenuated laser pulse with a mean photon number of 0.1 and was determined solely by the detector noise. This clearly demonstrates the advantages of our PLC-based one-way QKD system over two-way QKD systems for long distance key distribution.
A method for exceeding the 100 km barrier for quantum key distribution (QKD) over a standard telecom fiber was described. The system was based upon a time division Mach-Zender interferometer using phase modulation. The single photon detector was optimized by minimizing the contribution to the intrinsic error rate of detector dark count noise and stray photons. It was observed that a quantum bit error ratio (QBER) of 8.9% was achieved for a 122 km link, allowing a secure shared key to be formed after error correction and privacy amplification.
In this paper we demonstrate an active polarization drift compensation scheme for optical fibres employed in a quantum key distribution experiment with polarization encoded qubits. The quantum signals are wavelength multiplexed in one fibre along with two classical optical side channels that provide the control information for the polarization compensation scheme. This set-up allows us to continuously track any polarization change without the need to interrupt the key exchange. The results obtained show that fast polarization rotations of the order of 40π rad s–1 are effectively compensated for. We demonstrate that our set-up allows continuous quantum key distribution even in a fibre stressed by random polarization fluctuations. Our results pave the way for Bell-state measurements using only linear optics with parties separated by long-distance optical fibres.