Experimental Demonstration of Free-Space Unidimensional Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution Under High Detector Noise

Abstract:Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD), which uses quadratures of the electromagnetic field, enables practical quantum communication using standard telecommunication technologies. Unidimensional CV-QKD (UD-CVQKD) simplifies the implementation by restricting modulation to a single quadrature. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a free-space Gaussian-modulated UD-CVQKD system operating under a high detector electronic-noise regime (1.4 shot-noise units). The system employs polarized coherent states with signal and local oscillator co-propagating in the same spatial mode in orthogonal polarizations, ensuring stable interference. System security is analyzed under both untrusted (UTD) and trusted (TD) detector noise models. While no positive secret key rate is obtained under the UTD model, the TD model enables secure key generation over a finite range of modulation variances, highlighting the critical role of detector trust in high-noise conditions. A maximum secret key rate of 270 kbps is achieved at an optimal modulation variance of 11.57. Furthermore, secure operation requires high-transmittance (low-loss) channels under such noise conditions. This study demonstrates the practical feasibility of free-space UD-CVQKD in realistic high electronic-noise detection constraints and highlights detector electronic noise as a key limiting factor in practical systems.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics)

arXiv:2606.07206 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2606.07206v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.07206 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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