Secure communication with a heralded single-photon source

Abstract

Secure long distance communication over optical fibres requires robust data encryption. While the encryption itself can be conducted using classical algorithms, there is no unconditionally secure method of classical key distribution. Quantum key distribution (QKD), on the other hand, can provide users of the optical networks with unconditionally secure keys. Since QKD is based on single-photon transmission, one of the challenging tasks is to overcome the distance limitation imposed by the losses in optical fibres. In this work we show that single-photon based QKD outperforms the industry-standard weak coherent pulse approach. We also present our recent experimental results on building a heralded single-photon source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion of CW light and discuss problems and challenges of heralded single-photon generation in the CW regime.