Experimental decoy state BB84 quantum key distribution through a turbulent channel

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the Prefixed-Threshold Real-time Selection method significantly improves secure key rates in free-space Decoy State BB84 quantum key distribution under turbulent conditions by effectively managing intensity fluctuations.

Contribution

The study experimentally validates the effectiveness of P-RTS in enhancing secure key rates in turbulent free-space QKD, even with mismatched transmittance predictions.

Findings

P-RTS increases secure key rates at higher losses.

P-RTS remains robust despite transmittance prediction errors.

Laboratory simulation confirms benefits of turbulence mitigation techniques.

Abstract

In free-space Quantum Key Distribution in turbulent conditions, scattering and beam wandering cause intensity fluctuations which increase the detected signal-to-noise ratio. This effect can be mitigated by rejecting received bits when the channel's transmittance is below a threshold. Thus, the overall error rate is reduced and the secure key rate increases despite the deletion of bits. In Decoy State BB84 QKD, several methods to find the ideal threshold have already been proposed. One promising method is the Prefixed-Threshold Real-time Selection (P-RTS) where a cutoff can be chosen prior to data collection and independently of the intensity distribution. In this work we perform finite-size Decoy State BB84 QKD in a laboratory setting where we simulate the atmospheric turbulence using an acousto-optical modulator. We show that P-RTS can yield considerably higher secure key rates, especially at higher losses. In addition, we verify that P-RTS gives a robust cutoff even when the predicted transmittance does not match the actual transmittance.