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Postponement of dark-count effects in practical quantum key-distribution by two-way post-processing

  • Quantum Optics and Quantum Information
  • Published:
The European Physical Journal D - Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Plasma Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract.

The influence of imperfections on achievable secret-key generation rates of quantum key distribution protocols is investigated. As examples of relevant imperfections, we consider tagging of Alice's qubits and dark counts at Bob's detectors, while we focus on a powerful eavesdropping strategy which takes full advantage of tagged signals. It is demonstrated that error correction and privacy amplification based on a combination of a two-way classical communication protocol and asymmetric Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes may significantly postpone the disastrous influence of dark counts. As a result, the distances are increased considerably over which a secret key can be distributed in optical fibres reliably. Results are presented for the four-state, the six-state, and the decoy-state protocols.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64289, Darmstadt, Germany

    A. Khalique, G. M. Nikolopoulos & G. Alber

Authors
  1. A. Khalique
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  2. G. M. Nikolopoulos
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  3. G. Alber
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Correspondence to G. M. Nikolopoulos.

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Khalique, A., Nikolopoulos, G. & Alber, G. Postponement of dark-count effects in practical quantum key-distribution by two-way post-processing. Eur. Phys. J. D 40, 453–464 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00167-2

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