Feasibility of entanglement-based QKD protocols with SPDC and QD sources

2025/10/23 by Mariia Gumberidze, Gumberidze, Mariia, Vladyslav C. Usenko +1
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.20528

Abstract

We theoretically analyze the feasibility of entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols considering widely used spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) and novel quantum dot (QD) sources. We account for multiphoton emission in SPDC sources and fine-structure splitting (FSS) in QD. In addition, we incorporate imperfect detection, including dark counts and limited efficiency. For SPDC sources, we confirm that the presence of vacuum and multiphoton pairs renders them unsuitable for secure device-independent (DI) QKD implementations under standard detection strategies. Conversely, in the case of QD sources, accounting for the effects of FSS, results in reduced performance of protocols. Our findings are crucial for the practical implementation of entanglement-based QKD protocols using realistic sources and detectors.

Citations

• Advances in device-independent quantum key distribution
• Daylight entanglement-based quantum key distribution with a quantum dot source
• Semiconductor quantum dots: Technological progress and future challenges
• Advances in quantum cryptography
• Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?

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