Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows secret key exchange between two users with unconditional security. For QKD to be widely deployed, low cost and compactness are crucial requirements alongside high performance. Currently, the majority of QKD systems demonstrated rely on bulk intensity and phase m...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AIP Publishing LLC
2023-03-01
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| Series: | APL Photonics |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0128445 |
| _version_ | 1827893781740912640 |
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| author | Y. S. Lo R. I. Woodward N. Walk M. Lucamarini I. De Marco T. K. Paraïso M. Pittaluga T. Roger M. Sanzaro Z. L. Yuan A. J. Shields |
| author_facet | Y. S. Lo R. I. Woodward N. Walk M. Lucamarini I. De Marco T. K. Paraïso M. Pittaluga T. Roger M. Sanzaro Z. L. Yuan A. J. Shields |
| author_sort | Y. S. Lo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows secret key exchange between two users with unconditional security. For QKD to be widely deployed, low cost and compactness are crucial requirements alongside high performance. Currently, the majority of QKD systems demonstrated rely on bulk intensity and phase modulators to generate optical pulses with precisely defined amplitude and relative phase difference—i.e., to encode information as signal states and decoy states. However, these modulators are expensive and bulky, thereby limiting the compactness of QKD systems. Here, we present and experimentally demonstrate a novel optical transmitter design to overcome this disadvantage by generating intensity- and phase-tunable pulses at GHz clock speeds. Our design removes the need for bulk modulators by employing directly modulated lasers in combination with optical injection locking and coherent interference. This scheme is, therefore, well suited to miniaturization and photonic integration, and we implement a proof-of-principle QKD demonstration to highlight potential applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:57:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8108dc6f52aa4e09a29a2f8bef7e739e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2378-0967 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:57:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | AIP Publishing LLC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | APL Photonics |
| spelling | doaj.art-8108dc6f52aa4e09a29a2f8bef7e739e2023-07-25T15:16:15ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Photonics2378-09672023-03-0183036111036111-910.1063/5.0128445Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distributionY. S. Lo0R. I. Woodward1N. Walk2M. Lucamarini3I. De Marco4T. K. Paraïso5M. Pittaluga6T. Roger7M. Sanzaro8Z. L. Yuan9A. J. Shields10Toshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomToshiba Europe Ltd., Cambridge, United KingdomQuantum key distribution (QKD) allows secret key exchange between two users with unconditional security. For QKD to be widely deployed, low cost and compactness are crucial requirements alongside high performance. Currently, the majority of QKD systems demonstrated rely on bulk intensity and phase modulators to generate optical pulses with precisely defined amplitude and relative phase difference—i.e., to encode information as signal states and decoy states. However, these modulators are expensive and bulky, thereby limiting the compactness of QKD systems. Here, we present and experimentally demonstrate a novel optical transmitter design to overcome this disadvantage by generating intensity- and phase-tunable pulses at GHz clock speeds. Our design removes the need for bulk modulators by employing directly modulated lasers in combination with optical injection locking and coherent interference. This scheme is, therefore, well suited to miniaturization and photonic integration, and we implement a proof-of-principle QKD demonstration to highlight potential applications.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0128445 |
| spellingShingle | Y. S. Lo R. I. Woodward N. Walk M. Lucamarini I. De Marco T. K. Paraïso M. Pittaluga T. Roger M. Sanzaro Z. L. Yuan A. J. Shields Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution APL Photonics |
| title | Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution |
| title_full | Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution |
| title_fullStr | Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution |
| title_short | Simplified intensity- and phase-modulated transmitter for modulator-free decoy-state quantum key distribution |
| title_sort | simplified intensity and phase modulated transmitter for modulator free decoy state quantum key distribution |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0128445 |
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