Free-Space and Fiber-Integrated Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution under High Background Noise

Yu-Huai Li; Shuang-Lin Li; Xiao-Long Hu; Cong Jiang; Zong-Wen Yu; Wei Li; Wei-Yue Liu; Sheng-Kai Liao; Ji-Gang Ren; Hao Li; Lixing You; Zhen Wang; Juan Yin; Feihu Xu; Qiang Zhang; Xiang-Bin Wang; Yuan Cao; Cheng-Zhi Peng; Jian-Wei Pan

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.100802

Free-Space and Fiber-Integrated Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution under High Background Noise

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Sep 8;131(10):100802. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.100802.

Authors

Yu-Huai Li^{1

2

3}, Shuang-Lin Li^{1

2

3}, Xiao-Long Hu⁴, Cong Jiang⁴, Zong-Wen Yu^{4

5}, Wei Li^{1

2

3}, Wei-Yue Liu^{1

2

3}, Sheng-Kai Liao^{1

2

3}, Ji-Gang Ren^{1

2

3}, Hao Li⁶, Lixing You⁶, Zhen Wang⁶, Juan Yin^{1

2

3}, Feihu Xu^{1

2

3}, Qiang Zhang^{1

2

3}, Xiang-Bin Wang^{2

4}, Yuan Cao^{1

2

3}, Cheng-Zhi Peng^{1

2

3}, Jian-Wei Pan^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Science and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai 201315, China.
³ Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Data Communication Science and Technology Research Institute, Beijing 100191, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 37739363
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.100802

Abstract

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) provides immunity against all attacks targeting measurement devices. It is essential to implement MDI QKD in the future global-scale quantum communication network. Toward this goal, we demonstrate a robust MDI QKD fully covering daytime, overcoming the high background noise that prevents BB84 protocol even when using a perfect single-photon source. Based on this, we establish a hybrid quantum communication network that integrates free-space and fiber channels through Hong-Ou-Mandle (HOM) interference. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of implementing HOM interference with moving satellites. Our results serve as a significant cornerstone for future integrated space-ground quantum communication networks that incorporate measurement-device-independent security.