Enabling quantum communications through accurate photons polarization control

Álvaro J. Almeida; Nelson J. Muga; Nuno A. Silva; Aleksandar D. Stojanovic; Paulo S. André; Armando N. Pinto; José Mora; José Capmany

doi:10.1117/12.2026208

18 November 2013 Enabling quantum communications through accurate photons polarization control

Álvaro J. Almeida, Nelson J. Muga, Nuno A. Silva, Aleksandar D. Stojanovic, Paulo S. André, Armando N. Pinto, José Mora, José Capmany

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8785, 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications; 8785CG (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2026208
Event: 8th Ibero American Optics Meeting/11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications, 2013, Porto, Portugal

Abstract

The rapid increase on the information sharing around the world, leads to an utmost requirement for capacity and bandwidth. However, the need for security in the transmission and storage of information is also of major importance. The use of quantum technologies provides a practical solution for secure communications systems. Quantum key distribution (QKD) was the first practical application of quantum mechanics, and nowadays it is the most developed one. In order to share secret keys between two parties can be used several methods of encoding. Due to its simplicity, the encoding into polarization is one of the most used. However, when we use optical fibers as transmission channels, the polarization suffers random rotations that may change the state of polarization (SOP) of the light initially sent to the fiber to a new one at the output. Thus, in order to enable real-time communication using this encoding method it is required the use of a dynamic control system. We describe a scheme of transmission of quantum information, which is based in the polarization encoding, and that allows to share secret keys through optical fibers without interruption. The dynamic polarization control system used in such scheme is described, both theoretically and experimentally. Their advantages and limitations for the use in quantum communications are presented and discussed.

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Álvaro J. Almeida, Nelson J. Muga, Nuno A. Silva, Aleksandar D. Stojanovic, Paulo S. André, Armando N. Pinto, José Mora, and José Capmany "Enabling quantum communications through accurate photons polarization control", Proc. SPIE 8785, 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications, 8785CG (18 November 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2026208

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