Contributed Talks 3b: QKD implementation (Chair: George Kanellos)

contributed

Wed, 25 Aug , 13:45 - 14:15

Medical Data Protection in transit and at rest during the OpenQKD testbed operation in Graz

Hannes Hübel (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology); Andreas Poppe (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology); Florian Kutschera (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology); Werner Strasser (fragmentiX Storage Solutions GmbH); Bernhard Zatoukal (fragmentiX Storage Solutions GmbH); Kurt Zatloukal (Medical University Graz); Heimo Müller (Medical University Graz); Sigurd Lax (Hospital LKH-Graz II)

[abstract]
Abstract: We present data from a medical use-case demonstration from the OpenQKD project. The demonstration combined QKD with Secret Sharing to secure medical data both in transit and at rest. The network with 4 nodes and 4 links was running for more than two months in a deployed inner-city fiber network.

[slides]

Presenter live session: Andreas Poppe
Drone-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)

Andrew Conrad (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Samantha Isaac (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Roderick Cochran (The Ohio State University); Daniel Sanchez-Rosales (The Ohio State University); Akash Gutha (The Ohio State University); Tahereh Rezaei (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Brian Wilens (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Daniel Gauthier (The Ohio State University); Paul Kwiat (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

[abstract]
Abstract: Aerial Drones have been used in defense applications for decades, but recently the commercial use cases of drones have significantly increased to include package delivery, taxis, aerial photography, disaster relief, and even delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. Typically drones rely on a plurality of in-flight sensors for navigation and external command and control signals for tasking. As drones continue to proliferate our skies, the need to secure communication between drone constellations will become increasingly important, since the unmanned nature of drones offers new attack vectors which are not present for platforms with human operators. Quantum security protocols such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) offer unique advantages over classical approaches to secure the command-and-control signals of current and future drone constellations. In this presentation, we will report progress towards demonstrating QKD between two drones in flight. Critical subsystems and characterization data will be presented such as the QKD source, which is based on a resonant cavity Light Emitting Diodes (LED), as well as a secondary QKD source based on a fiber-coupled polarization modulator. The Pointing Acquisition, and Tracking (PAT) system provides both course alignment using Infrared (IR) beacons and cameras and fine alignment is achieved using Fast Steering Mirrors (FSM) and feedback position sensors. We will discuss QKD optical payloads, which were fabricated using a 3D printed bench to achieve a compact size and weight, single-photon detectors, an FPGA-based time-tagger and two time-synchronization approaches. Providing quantum security to emerging drone networks, including airborne and ground-based systems such as self-driving cars, is a critical enabling technology required to extend the future quantum internet to mobile platforms, with could play an essential role, e.g., for reconfigurable distributed quantum sensors.

[YouTube, presented by Andrew Conrad]

[slides]

Presenter live session: Andrew Conrad
MDI-QKD with 19.2 km free-space channel

Yuan Cao (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Yu-Huai Li (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Kui-Xing Yang (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Yang-Fan Jiang (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Shuang-Lin Li (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Xiao-Long Hu (Tsinghua University); Maimaiti Abulizi (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Cheng-Long Li (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Weijun Zhang (Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences); Qi-Chao Sun (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Wei-Yue Liu (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Xiao Jiang (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Sheng-Kai Liao (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Ji-Gang Ren (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Hao Li (Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences); Lixing You (Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences); Zhen Wang (Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences); Juan Yin (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Chao-Yang Lu (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Xiang-Bin Wang (University of Science and Technology of China and Tsinghua University); Qiang Zhang (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Cheng-Zhi Peng (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences); Jian-Wei Pan (University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences)

[abstract]
Abstract: Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), based on two-photon interference, is immune to all attacks against the detection system and allows a QKD network with untrusted relays. Since the MDI-QKD protocol was proposed, fiber-based implementations aimed at longer distance, higher key rates and network verification have been rapidly developed. However, owing to the effect of atmospheric turbulence, MDI-QKD over free-space channel remains experimentally challenging. Herein, by developing a robust adaptive optics system, high-precision time synchronization and frequency locking between independent photon sources located far apart, we realized the first free-space MDI-QKD over a 19.2-km urban atmospheric channel, which well exceeds the effective atmospheric thickness. Our experiment takes the first step towards satellite-based MDI-QKD. Moreover, the technology developed herein opens the way to quantum experiments in free space involving long-distance interference of independent single photons.

[YouTube, presented by Yu-Huai Li]
Pathways for entanglement based quantum communication in the face of high noise

Xiao-Min Hu (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Chao Zhang (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Yu Guo (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Fang-Xiang Wang (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Wen-Bo Xing (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Cen-Xiao Huang (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Bi-Heng Liu (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Yun-Feng Huang (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Chuan-Feng Li (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Guang-Can Guo (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei); Xiaoqin Gao (Department of physics, University of Ottawa, Advanced Research Complex, 25 Templeton Street, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, ON, Canada); Matej Pivoluska (Institute of Computer Science, Masaryk University, Brno); Marcus Huber (Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Atominstitut, TU Wien, 1020 Vienna, Austria)

[abstract]
Abstract: Entanglement based quantum communication offers an increased level of security in practical secret shared key distribution. One of the fundamental principles enabling this security -- the fact that interfering with one photon will destroy entanglement and thus be detectable -- is also the greatest obstacle. Random encounters of traveling photons, losses and technical imperfections make noise an inevitable part of any quantum communication scheme, severely limiting distance, key rate and environmental conditions in which QKD can be employed. Using photons entangled in their spatial degree of freedom, we show that the increased noise resistance of high-dimensional entanglement, can indeed be harnessed for practical key distribution schemes. We perform quantum key distribution in eight entangled paths at various levels of environmental noise and show key rates that, even after error correction and privacy amplification, still exceed 1 bit per photon pair and furthermore certify a secure key at noise levels that would prohibit comparable qubit based schemes from working.

[arXiv: 2011.03005]

[YouTube, presented by Matej Pivoluska]

[slides]

Presenter live session: Matej Pivoluska