Quantum key distribution using gaussian-modulated coherent states

Frédéric Grosshans, Gilles Van Assche, Jérôme Wenger, Rosa Brouri, Nicolas J. Cerf and Philippe Grangier ()
Additional contact information
Frédéric Grosshans: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS UMR 8501
Gilles Van Assche: Ecole Polytechnique, CP 165, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Jérôme Wenger: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS UMR 8501
Rosa Brouri: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS UMR 8501
Nicolas J. Cerf: Ecole Polytechnique, CP 165, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Philippe Grangier: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS UMR 8501

Nature, 2003, vol. 421, issue 6920, 238-241

Abstract: Abstract Quantum continuous variables1 are being explored2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 as an alternative means to implement quantum key distribution, which is usually based on single photon counting15. The former approach is potentially advantageous because it should enable higher key distribution rates. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate a quantum key distribution protocol based on the transmission of gaussian-modulated coherent states (consisting of laser pulses containing a few hundred photons) and shot-noise-limited homodyne detection; squeezed or entangled beams are not required13. Complete secret key extraction is achieved using a reverse reconciliation14 technique followed by privacy amplification. The reverse reconciliation technique is in principle secure for any value of the line transmission, against gaussian individual attacks based on entanglement and quantum memories. Our table-top experiment yields a net key transmission rate of about 1.7 megabits per second for a loss-free line, and 75 kilobits per second for a line with losses of 3.1 dB. We anticipate that the scheme should remain effective for lines with higher losses, particularly because the present limitations are essentially technical, so that significant margin for improvement is available on both the hardware and software.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01289 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6920:d:10.1038_nature01289

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01289

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().