Spatial Mode Encoding for Quantum Key Distribution: From Hundreds to Thousands of Modes
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866908868658855936 |
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| author | Scarfe, Lukas Zhang, Yingwen Karimi, Ebrahim |
| author_facet | Scarfe, Lukas Zhang, Yingwen Karimi, Ebrahim |
| contents | Here, we present a proof-of-principle high-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol utilizing the position and momentum entanglement of photon pairs. The protocol exploits the fact that position and momentum form mutually unbiased bases, linked via a Fourier transform. One photon of the entangled pair is measured by the sender in a randomly chosen basis-either position or momentum-selected passively via a beam splitter. This projective measurement remotely prepares the partner photon in a corresponding spatial mode, which is sent to the receiver, who similarly performs a random measurement in one of the two bases. In this implementation, we achieve a photon information efficiency of 5.07 bits per photon using 90 spatial modes, and a maximum bit rate of 0.9 Kb/s with 361 modes. To assess the scalability of this spatial-mode encoding scheme, we theoretically show that using a brighter entangled photon source along with next-generation single-photon cameras - featuring improved quantum efficiency, timing and spatial resolution - this approach could achieve 9 bits per photon at 2000 spatial modes, and a bit rate of over 700 Mb/s at 4400 modes while accounting for finite-key effects. These results quantify the opportunities and performance bounds of spatially encoded, entanglement-based QKD and provide a benchmark for future high-dimensional quantum communication systems. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22058 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spatial Mode Encoding for Quantum Key Distribution: From Hundreds to Thousands of Modes Scarfe, Lukas Zhang, Yingwen Karimi, Ebrahim Quantum Physics Optics Here, we present a proof-of-principle high-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol utilizing the position and momentum entanglement of photon pairs. The protocol exploits the fact that position and momentum form mutually unbiased bases, linked via a Fourier transform. One photon of the entangled pair is measured by the sender in a randomly chosen basis-either position or momentum-selected passively via a beam splitter. This projective measurement remotely prepares the partner photon in a corresponding spatial mode, which is sent to the receiver, who similarly performs a random measurement in one of the two bases. In this implementation, we achieve a photon information efficiency of 5.07 bits per photon using 90 spatial modes, and a maximum bit rate of 0.9 Kb/s with 361 modes. To assess the scalability of this spatial-mode encoding scheme, we theoretically show that using a brighter entangled photon source along with next-generation single-photon cameras - featuring improved quantum efficiency, timing and spatial resolution - this approach could achieve 9 bits per photon at 2000 spatial modes, and a bit rate of over 700 Mb/s at 4400 modes while accounting for finite-key effects. These results quantify the opportunities and performance bounds of spatially encoded, entanglement-based QKD and provide a benchmark for future high-dimensional quantum communication systems. |
| title | Spatial Mode Encoding for Quantum Key Distribution: From Hundreds to Thousands of Modes |
| topic | Quantum Physics Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22058 |