Wednesday, April 10, 2013

1304.2463 (Allison Rubenok et al.)

Real-world two-photon interference and proof-of-principle quantum key
distribution immune to detector attacks
   [PDF]

Allison Rubenok, Joshua A. Slater, Philip Chan, Itzel Lucio-Martinez, Wolfgang Tittel
Several vulnerabilities of single photon detectors have recently been exploited to compromise the security of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. In this letter we report the first proof-of-principle implementation of a new quantum key distribution protocol that is immune to any such attack. More precisely, we demonstrated this new approach to QKD in the laboratory over more than 80 km of spooled fiber, as well as across different locations within the city of Calgary. The robustness of our fibre-based implementation, together with the enhanced level of security offered by the protocol, confirms QKD as a realistic technology for safeguarding secrets in transmission. Furthermore, our demonstration establishes the feasibility of controlled two-photon interference in a real-world environment, and thereby removes a remaining obstacle to realizing future applications of quantum communication, such as quantum repeaters and, more generally, quantum networks.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.2463

No comments:

Post a Comment