Implementation of coherent one way protocol for quantum key distribution up to an effective distance of 145 km

TL;DR

This paper reports an experimental implementation of the coherent one-way (COW) quantum key distribution protocol over optical fiber distances up to 145 km, demonstrating stable key rates and low error rates through parameter optimization.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental realization of COW QKD at telecom wavelength over extended distances up to 145 km, with detailed analysis of parameter effects on key rate and stability.

Findings

Key rate increases linearly with decreasing disclose rate and compression ratio.

Quantum bit error rate remains below 6% across experiments.

Stable key rates observed over time and various parameter settings.

Abstract

In the present work, we report experimental realization of an optical fiber based COW protocol for QKD in the telecom wavelength (1550 nm) where the attenuation in the optical fiber is minimum. A laser of 1550 nm wavelength, attenuator and intensity modulator is used for the generation of pulses having average photon number 0.5 and repetition rate of 500 MHz. The experiment is performed over 40 km, 80 km and 120 km of optical fiber and several experimental parameters like disclose rate, compression ratio, dead time and excess bias voltage of the detector are varied for all the cases (i.e., for 40 km, 80 km and 120 km distances) to observe their impact on the final key rate. Specifically, It is observed that there is a linear increase in the key rate as we decrease compression ratio or disclose rate. The key rate obtains its maximum value for least permitted values of disclose rate, compression ratio and dead time. It seems to remain stable for various values of excess bias voltage. While changing various parameters, we have maintained the quantum bit error rate (QBER) below 6%. The key rate obtained is also found to remain stable over time. Experimental results obtained here are also compared with the earlier realizations of the COW QKD protocol. Further, to emulate key rate at intermediate distances and at a distance larger than 120 km, an attenuator of 5 dB loss is used which can be treated as equivalent to 25 km of the optical fiber used in the present implementation. This has made the present implementation equivalent to the realization of COW QKD upto 145 km.