2016/06/27 by Davide Bacco, Bacco, Davide, Jesper Bjerge Christensen +12
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1606.08375
7 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2016/06/27 · arxiv updated 2016/06/28
Quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum communication enable the secure exchange of information between remote parties. Currently, the distributed-phase-reference (DPR) protocols, which are based on weak coherent pulses, are among the most practical solutions for long-range QKD. During the last 10 years, long-distance fiber-based DPR systems have been successfully demonstrated, although fundamental obstacles such as intrinsic channel losses limit their performance. Here, we introduce the first two-dimensional DPR-QKD protocol in which information is encoded in the time and phase of weak coherent pulses. The ability of extracting two bits of information per detection event, enables a higher secret key rate in specific realistic network scenarios. Moreover, despite the use of more dimensions, the proposed protocol remains simple, practical, and fully integrable.