Single-photon-memory measurement-device-independent quantum secure direct communication

TL;DR

This paper introduces a single-photon-memory measurement-device-independent quantum secure direct communication protocol that eliminates the need for high-performance quantum memory, making it feasible with current technology.

Contribution

It proposes a novel SPMQC protocol that removes the requirement for quantum memory in MDI-QSDC, enhancing practicality.

Findings

Simulations show the protocol is feasible with current technology.

The protocol maintains security without high-performance quantum memory.

Performance is validated under realistic experimental parameters.

Abstract

Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) uses the quantum channel to transmit information reliably and securely. In order to eliminate the security loopholes resulting from practical detectors, the measurement-device-independent (MDI) QSDC protocol has been proposed. However, block-based transmission of quantum states is utilized in MDI-QSDC, which requires practical quantum memory that is still unavailable at the time of writing. For circumventing this impediment, we propose a single-photon-memory MDI QSDC protocol (SPMQC) for dispensing with high-performance quantum memory. The performance of the proposed protocol is characterized by simulations considering realistic experimental parameters, and the results show that it is feasible to implement SPMQC by relying on present-day technology.