Finite-key analysis for time-energy high-dimensional quantum key distribution

TL;DR

This paper provides a rigorous finite-key security proof for high-dimensional time-energy quantum key distribution under general attacks, demonstrating its feasibility for secure metropolitan-area communication.

Contribution

It introduces a novel entropic uncertainty relation and extends security analysis of HD-QKD to finite-key regimes with general attacks.

Findings

Secure key rates are achievable over metropolitan distances.

The security proof applies to the most powerful eavesdropping attacks.

The protocol includes an efficient decoy-state method for parameter estimation.

Abstract

Time-energy high-dimensional quantum key distribution (HD-QKD) leverages the high-dimensional nature of time-energy entangled biphotons and the loss tolerance of single-photon detection to achieve long-distance key distribution with high photon information efficiency. To date, the general-attack security of HD-QKD has only been proven in the asymptotic regime, while HD-QKD's finite-key security has only been established for a limited set of attacks. Here we fill this gap by providing a rigorous HD-QKD security proof for general attacks in the finite-key regime. Our proof relies on a novel entropic uncertainty relation that we derive for time and conjugate-time measurements using dispersive optics, and our analysis includes an efficient decoy-state protocol in its parameter estimation. We present numerically-evaluated secret-key rates illustrating the feasibility of secure and composable HD-QKD over metropolitan-area distances when the system is subjected to the most powerful eavesdropping attack.