Passive decoy-state quantum key distribution using weak coherent pulses with modulator attenuation

Passive decoy-state quantum key distribution is more desirable than the active one in some scenarios. It is also affected by the imperfections of the devices. In this paper, the influence of modulator attenuation on the passive decoy-state method is considered. We introduce and analyze the unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer, briefly, and combining with the virtual source and imaginary unitary transformation, we characterize the passive decoy-state method using a weak coherent photon source with modulator attenuation. According to the attenuation parameter 6, the pass efficiencies are given. Then, the key generation rate can be acquired. From numerical simulations, it can be seen that modulator attenuation has a non- negligible influence on the performance of passive-state QKD protocol. Based on the research, the analysis method of virtual source and imaginary unitary transformation are preferred in analyzing passive decoy state protocol, and the passive decoy-state method is better than the active one and is close to the active vacuum ＋ weak decoy state under the condition of having the same modulator attenuation.

Experimental demonstration of passive decoy state quantum key distribution

Passive decoy state quantum key distribution（PDS-QKD） has advantages in high-speed scenarios.We propose a modified model to simulate the PDS-QKD with a weak coherent light source based on Curty＇s theory [Opt.Lett.34 3238（2009）].The modified model can provide better performance in a practical PDS-QKD system.Moreover,we report an experimental demonstration of the PDS-QKD of over 22.0-dB channel loss.

Experimental demonstration of passive decoy state quantum key distribution

Passive decoy state quantum key distribution(PDS-QKD) has advantages in high-speed scenarios.We propose a modified model to simulate the PDS-QKD with a weak coherent light source based on Curty’s theory [Opt.Lett.34 3238(2009)].The modified model can provide better performance in a practical PDS-QKD system.Moreover,we report an experimental demonstration of the PDS-QKD of over 22.0-dB channel loss.

Performance of passive decoy-state quantum key distribution with mismatched local detectors

In quantum key distribution(QKD),the passive decoy-state method can simplify the intensity modulation and reduce some of side-channel information leakage and modulation errors.It is usually implemented with a heralded single-photon source.In Wang et al 2016(Phys.Rev.A 96032312),a novel passive decoy-state method is proposed by Wang et al,which uses two local detectors to generate more detection events for tightly estimating channel parameters.However,in the original scheme,the two local detectors are assumed to be identical,including the same detection efficiency and dark count rate,which is often not satisfied in the realistic experiment.In this paper,we construct a model for this passive decoy-state QKD scheme with two mismatched detectors and explore the effect on QKD performance with certain parameters.We also take the finite-size effect into consideration,showing the performance with statistical fluctuations.The results show that the efficiencies of local detectors affect the key rate more obviously than dark count rates.

New protocols for non-orthogonal quantum key distribution

Combining the passive decoy-state idea with the active decoy-state idea, a non-orthogonal （SARG04） decoy-state protocol with one vacuum and two weak decoy states is introduced based on a heralded pair coherent state photon source for quantum key distribution. Two special cases of this protocol are deduced, i.e., a one-vacuum-and-one-weak-decoy-state protocol and a one-weak-decoy-state protocol. In these protocols, the sender prepares decoy states actively, which avoids the crude estimation of parameters in the SARG04 passive decoy-state method. With the passive decoy-state idea, the detection events on Bob＇s side that are non-triggered on Alice＇s side are not discarded, but used to estimate the fractions of single-photon and two-photon pulses, which offsets the limitation of the detector＇s low efficiency and overcomes the shortcoming that the performance of the active decoy-state protocol critically depends on the efficiency of detector. The simulation results show that the combination of the active and passive decoy-state ideas increases the key generation rate. With a one-vacuum-and-two-weak-decoy-state protocol, one can achieve a key generation rate that is close to the theoretical limit of an infinite decoy-state protocol. The performance of the other two protocols is a little less than with the former, but the implementation is easier. Under the same condition of implementation, higher key rates can be obtained with our protocols than with existing methods.