Quantum key distribution system operating at sifted-key rate over 4 Mbit/s

A complete fiber-based polarization encoding quantum key distribution (QKD) system based on the BB84 protocol has been developed at National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST). The system can be operated at a sifted key rate of more than 4 Mbit/s over optical fiber of length 1 km and mean photon number 0.1. The quantum channel uses 850 nm photons from attenuated high speed VCSELs and the classical channel uses 1550 nm light from normal commercial coarse wavelength division multiplexing devices. Sifted-key rates and quantum error rates at different transmission rates are measured as a function of distance (fiber length). A polarization auto-compensation module has been developed and utilized to recover the polarization state and to compensate for temporal drift. An automatic timing alignment device has also been developed to quickly handle the initial configuration of quantum channels so that detection events fall into the correct timing window. These automated functions make the system more practical for integration into existing optical local area networks.

[1]  N. Gisin,et al.  Quantum Cryptography with Polarized Photons in Optical Fibres: Experiment and Practical Limits , 1994 .

[2]  Charles H. Bennett,et al.  Quantum cryptography using any two nonorthogonal states. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[3]  Z. Yuan,et al.  Quantum key distribution over 122 km of standard telecom fiber , 2004, quant-ph/0412171.

[4]  Anastase Nakassis,et al.  Expeditious reconciliation for practical quantum key distribution , 2004, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[5]  David P. DiVincenzo,et al.  Quantum information and computation , 2000, Nature.

[6]  Alan Mink,et al.  Quantum key distribution with 1.25 Gbps clock synchronization , 2004 .

[7]  Gisin,et al.  Unambiguous quantum measurement of nonorthogonal states. , 1996, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[8]  Hai Xu,et al.  Experimental study of high speed polarization-coding quantum key distribution with sifted-key rates over Mbit/s. , 2006, Optics express.

[9]  Alan Mink,et al.  High speed fiber-based quantum key distribution using polarization encoding , 2005, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[10]  John Rarity,et al.  Secure free-space key exchange to 1.9 km and beyond , 2001 .

[11]  Martha Navarro,et al.  Enhanced autocompensating quantum cryptography system. , 2001, Applied optics.

[12]  P.D. Townsend,et al.  Experimental investigation of the performance limits for first telecommunications-window quantum cryptography systems , 1998, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[13]  Alan Mink,et al.  High-speed quantum key distribution system supports one-time pad encryption of real-time video , 2006, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[14]  G. Buller,et al.  A short wavelength GigaHertz clocked fiber-optic quantum key distribution system , 2004, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[15]  Gilles Brassard,et al.  Quantum Cryptography , 2005, Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security.