Continuous high speed coherent one-way quantum key distribution

• DOI: 10.1364/oe.17.013326
• Publication Date: 2009-07-21T14:52:35Z
• Authors: Damien Stucki; Claudio Barreiro; Sylvain Fasel; Jean-Daniel Gautier; Olivier Gay; Nicolas Gisin; Rob Thew; Yann Thoma; Patrick Trinkler; Fabien Vannel; Hugo Zbinden
• Keywords: Quantum key distribution

We report the first real world implementation of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system over 43dB-loss transmission line in Swisscom fibre optic network.The QKD is capable continuous and autonomous operation uses coherent one-way (COW) protocol.This brings together three key concepts for future systems: simple high-speed protocol; high performance detection; integration, both at component level as well connectivity with standard networks.Here, we show laboratory field trial results this system.The full prototype version InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs) was tested up to 150km, 10-hour exchange averaging around 2kbps real-time distilled secret bits 100km.In trials, obtained average distribution rates, during 3 hours, 2.5bps when using superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs).