Discrete and continuous variables for measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography

Journal Article · Mon Nov 16 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Nature Photonics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.206· OSTI ID:1327586

Xu, Feihu ^[1]; Curty, Marcos ^[2]; Qi, Bing ^[3]; Qian, Li ^[4]; Lo, Hoi-Kwong ^[5]

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1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Research Lab. of Electronics
2. Univ. of Vigo, Vigo (Spain). Escuela de Ingenieria de Telecomunicacion, Dept. of Signal Theory and Communications
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
4. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
5. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering

In a recent Article in Nature Photonics, Pirandola et al.1 claim that the achievable secret key rates of discrete-variable (DV) measurementdevice- independent (MDI) quantum key distribution (QKD) (refs 2,3) are “typically very low, unsuitable for the demands of a metropolitan network” and introduce a continuous-variable (CV) MDI QKD protocol capable of providing key rates which, they claim, are “three orders of magnitude higher” than those of DV MDI QKD. We believe, however, that the claims regarding low key rates of DV MDI QKD made by Pirandola et al.1 are too pessimistic. Here in this paper, we show that the secret key rate of DV MDI QKD with commercially available high-efficiency single-photon detectors (SPDs) (for example, see http://www.photonspot.com/detectors and http://www.singlequantum.com) and good system alignment is typically rather high and thus highly suitable for not only long-distance communication but also metropolitan networks.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1327586
• Journal Information: Nature Photonics, Vol. 9, Issue 12; ISSN 1749-4885
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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