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FSO-QKD protocols under free-space losses and device imperfections: a comparative study

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Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a technique to establish a secret key between two parties through a quantum channel. Several QKD protocols have been proposed and implemented over optical fibers or free-space links. The main challenge of operating QKD protocols over a free-space link is free-space losses. In this paper, we have studied and compared the performance of single- and entangled-photon-based QKD protocols by evaluating the quantum bit error rate and secure key rate for terrestrial free-space quantum communication by considering different free-space losses, such as geometrical losses, atmospheric losses as well as device imperfections.

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Notes

  1. Where \(|\uparrow \rangle (|\downarrow \rangle )=|H\rangle (|V\rangle ), |\nearrow \rangle (|\nwarrow \rangle )=\frac{|H\rangle +|V\rangle }{\sqrt{2}}\left( \frac{|H\rangle -|V\rangle }{\sqrt{2}}\right) ,\,|\circlearrowright \rangle (|\circlearrowleft \rangle )=\frac{|H\rangle + i|V\rangle }{\sqrt{2}}\left( \frac{|H\rangle - i|V\rangle }{\sqrt{2}}\right) \).

  2. We have considered Alice’s and Bob’s stations to be exposed to equal losses (\(T_{A}=T_{B}\)).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thankfully acknowledge the following funding agencies: Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), India (09/086(1331)/2018-EMR-I), and Defence Research and Development Organisation, India (DFTM/03/3203/P/07/JATC-P2QP-07/463/D), for a project grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quantum Photonics Lab, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Mitali Sisodia,  Omshankar, Vivek Venkataraman & Joyee Ghosh

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  1. Mitali Sisodia
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  2. Omshankar
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  3. Vivek Venkataraman
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  4. Joyee Ghosh
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M.S. did design thinking, investigation, analysis, and manuscript writing. OM contributed to the figures’ preparation and manuscript writing. V.V. and J.G. supervised the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript

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Correspondence to Mitali Sisodia or Joyee Ghosh.

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Sisodia, M., Omshankar, Venkataraman, V. et al. FSO-QKD protocols under free-space losses and device imperfections: a comparative study. Quantum Inf Process 23, 185 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-024-04382-1

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