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High-rate measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography

Nature Photonics volume 9, pages 397–402 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Quantum cryptography achieves a formidable task—the remote distribution of secret keys by exploiting the fundamental laws of physics. Quantum cryptography is now headed towards solving the practical problem of constructing scalable and secure quantum networks. A significant step in this direction has been the introduction of measurement-device independence, where the secret key between two parties is established by the measurement of an untrusted relay. Unfortunately, although qubit-implemented protocols can reach long distances, their key rates are typically very low, unsuitable for the demands of a metropolitan network. Here we show, theoretically and experimentally, that a solution can come from the use of continuous-variable systems. We design a coherent-state network protocol able to achieve remarkably high key rates at metropolitan distances, in fact three orders of magnitude higher than those currently achieved. Our protocol could be employed to build high-rate quantum networks where devices securely connect to nearby access points or proxy servers.

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Figure 1: Basic protocol and its general eavesdropping.
Figure 2: Protocol in the presence of a coherent two-mode Gaussian attack.
Figure 3: Behaviour of the ideal rate in terms of the transmissivities of Alice's and Bob's links.
Figure 4: Free-space experimental set-up.
Figure 5: Experimental results and comparison with theoretical predictions.

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Acknowledgements

S.P. acknowledges support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council via the ‘UK Quantum Communications HUB’ (EP/M013472/1) and grants ‘qDATA’ (EP/L011298/1) and ‘HIPERCOM’ (EP/J00796X/1). S.P. also acknowledges the Leverhulme Trust (research fellowship ‘qBIO’). T.G. acknowledges support from the H.C. Ørsted postdoctoral programme. U.L.A. acknowledges the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (Sapere Aude project).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science and York Centre for Quantum Technologies, University of York, York, YO10 5GH, UK

    Stefano Pirandola, Carlo Ottaviani, Gaetana Spedalieri & Samuel L. Braunstein

  2. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3G4, Canada

    Christian Weedbrook

  3. QKD Corporation, 112 College Street, Toronto, M5G 1L6, Canada

    Christian Weedbrook

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Seth Lloyd

  5. Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, Kongens Lyngby, 2800, Denmark

    Tobias Gehring, Christian S. Jacobsen & Ulrik L. Andersen

Authors
  1. Stefano Pirandola
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  2. Carlo Ottaviani
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  4. Christian Weedbrook
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  5. Samuel L. Braunstein
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  6. Seth Lloyd
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Contributions

S.P. conceived the theoretical ideas, developed the methodology, derived the main analytical results, and wrote the manuscript and the Supplementary Information. C.O. contributed to the security analysis of the protocol and performed the post-processing of the experimental data. G.S. contributed to theoretical aspects and performed the post-processing of the experimental data. C.S.J., T.G. and U.L.A. designed and performed the experiment, analysed the experimental data, and contributed to writing the description of the experimental set-up. C.W., S.L. and S.L.B. contributed to theoretical aspects and editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefano Pirandola.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Pirandola, S., Ottaviani, C., Spedalieri, G. et al. High-rate measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography. Nature Photon 9, 397–402 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.83

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