Large-alphabet Encoding for Higher-rate Quantum Key Distribution
Abstract
The manipulation of high-dimensional degrees of freedom provides new opportunities for more efficient quantum information processing. It has recently been shown that high-dimensional encoded states can provide significant advantages over binary quantum states in applications of quantum computation and quantum communication. In particular, high-dimensional quantum key distribution enables higher secret-key generation rates under practical limitations of detectors or light sources, as well as greater error tolerance. Here, we demonstrate high-dimensional quantum key distribution capabilities both in the laboratory and over a deployed fiber, using photons encoded in a high-dimensional alphabet to increase the secure information yield per detected photon. By adjusting the alphabet size, it is possible to mitigate the effects of receiver bottlenecks and optimize the secret-key rates for different channel losses. This work presents a strategy for achieving higher secret-key rates in receiver-limited scenarios and marks an important step toward high-dimensional quantum communication in deployed fiber networks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 11, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1089883
Entities
People
- Catherine Lee
- Darius Bunandar
- Dirk Englund
- Franco N. Wong
- Gregory R. Steinbrecher
- Jeffrey H Shapiro
- P. Ben Dixon
- Scott A. Hamilton
- Zheshen Zhang
Organizations
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory