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Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution with modified coherent states

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Abstract

Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) can generate secret keys in the presence of unknown and slowly drifting reference frames. Due to the unavoidable multiphoton events in practical weak coherent states (WCS), the decoy-state method is adopted to combat the potential photon-number-splitting attacks. In this paper, we adopt modified coherent states (MCS), which can eliminate certain multiphoton events based on quantum interference, to implement decoy-state RFI-QKD. Simulation results show that, compared with WCS, MCS can improve the secret key rate and transmission distance in RFI-QKD.

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Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019T120446, 2018M642281), Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (2018K185C), Jiangsu Graduate Practice and Innovation Program (SJCX21_0262) and Natural Science Foundation of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NY221058, 1311).

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  1. Institute of Quantum Information and Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210003, China

    Li-Guo She & Chun-Mei Zhang

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Correspondence to Chun-Mei Zhang.

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She, LG., Zhang, CM. Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution with modified coherent states. Quantum Inf Process 21, 161 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-022-03502-z

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