Metropolitan quantum key distribution using a <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Ga</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>-based room-temperature telecommunicatio
Single-photon sources (SPSs) hold the potential to enhance the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD systems using SPS often require cryogenic cooling, while recent QKD attempts using SPS operating at room temperature have failed to achieve long-distance transmission due to the SPS not operating at telecommunication wavelength. In this work, we have successfully demonstrated QKD using a room-temperature SPS at telecommunication wavelength. The SPS used in this work is based on point defects hosted by gallium nitride ($\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{N}$) thin films grown on sapphire substrates. We employed a time-bin and phase-encoding scheme to perform the BB84 and reference-frame-independent QKD protocols over a 33-km fiber spool, achieving a secure key rate of $7.58\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$ per pulse. Moreover, we also implemented a metropolitan QKD experiment over a 30-km deployed fiber, achieving a secure key rate of $6.06\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ per pulse. These results broaden the prospects for future use of SPS in commercial QKD applications.
Authors
- Alexander Ling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5866-1141)
- Jesús Zúñiga-Pérez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7154-641X)
- Max Meunier
- John J. H. Eng
- Weibo Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3971-621X)
- Yuzhe Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-5790)
- Haoran Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6261-038X)
- Xingjian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8985-5693)
Institutions
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- UMI MajuLab (SG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Applied
- Published
- 2025-05-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.23.054022
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Information and Cryptography
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 14.89
Funders
- National Research Foundation Singapore