https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00737-y
Regular Article – Quantum Information
Improve the performance of reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with heralded single-photon sources
School of Science and State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optica Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 100876, Beijing, China
Received:
22
May
2023
Accepted:
20
July
2023
Published online:
12
August
2023
The performance degradation of reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-MDI-QKD) protocol caused by the finite key size effect impedes its practical implementation. The protocol utilizes the double-scanning method, which makes it possible to precisely estimate both the counts of single-photon pairs and the phase-flip error. This method effectively counteracts the statistical fluctuation brought on by the finite key size effect. Based on this method, we propose a scheme in this work that substitutes heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) for weak coherent sources (WCS), and we compare the performance of the two schemes by calculating the key rate. The RFI-MDI-QKD using HSPS, according to the results of the simulation, has a lower key rate than the RFI-MDI-QKD using WCS, but it also has a longer transmission distance and a more noticeable improvement in transmission distance at larger rotation angles. Thus, we demonstrate that the RFI-MDI-QKD protocol, based on the double-scanning method and using HSPS, has promising future application potential.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
