High-speed continuous-variable quantum key distribution without sending a local oscillator

Opt Lett. 2015 Aug 15;40(16):3695-8. doi: 10.1364/OL.40.003695.

Abstract

We report a 100-MHz continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) experiment over a 25-km fiber channel without sending a local oscillator (LO). We use a "locally" generated LO and implement with a 1-GHz shot-noise-limited homodyne detector to achieve high-speed quantum measurement, and we propose a secure phase compensation scheme to maintain a low level of excess noise. These make high-bit-rate CV-QKD significantly simpler for larger transmission distances compared with previous schemes in which both LO and quantum signals are transmitted through the insecure quantum channel.