Evaluating the performance of a weak-field homodyne receiver in quadrature phase-shift keying optical communication

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a weak-field homodyne receiver for quadrature phase-shift keying optical communication, showing promising results for quantum communication efficiency and potential for higher modulation schemes.

Contribution

It introduces a proof of concept for a weak-field receiver in quaternary phase encoding, highlighting its advantages over traditional detection methods.

Findings

Achieved mutual information and secret key rates that support quantum communication.

Validated the effectiveness of the weak-field receiver for phase-encoded coherent states.

Encourages development towards continuous phase modulation schemes.

Abstract

Quantum communication protocols require efficient detection schemes to maximize the information transfer rate between the sender and the receiver. To this aim, we have demonstrated that weak-field receivers, merging wave-like and particle-like features, can be considered as a valid alternative to already existing receivers, such as optical homodyne detection. To better emphasize the potential of our receiver, in this work we consider a proof of concept for quaternary communication based on coherent states with the same amplitude and different phase values. The encoding in phase requires a fine control of phase noise obtained through a feedback system. The results achieved in terms of mutual information and secret key generation rate encourage further increase of the alphabet towards an approximately continuous phase modulation.