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Progress in Quantum Key Distribution

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Quantum Information".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 19 May 2024 | Viewed by 383

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Interests: quantum key distribution; quantum cryptography; quantum information processing; quantum optics; quantum measurement

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Interests: quantum key distribution; quantum cryptography; quantum network; quantum entanglement distribution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As a crucial component of the quantum internet, quantum key distribution (QKD) offers potential advantages for securing information exchanged between two remote parties. Unlike current classical cryptography, which relies on computational complexity, QKD provides unconditional security grounded in the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Since the development of the first QKD protocols, such as BB84 based on single-photon states and E91 based on quantum entanglement states, both theoretical and experimental progress in QKD has been rapid. Recently, QKD systems achieving key rates exceeding 100 Mbps and distances over 1000 km have been demonstrated in laboratory and field settings, particularly leveraging satellites and drones, paving the way for long-distance secure quantum internet. However, several important challenges must be addressed to enable the widespread practical application of QKD.

The first challenge involves increasing the final key rate for a given distance and extending the maximum distance without relying on quantum repeaters. The second challenge is to mitigate practical security vulnerabilities introduced by potential imperfections in QKD devices. The third challenge entails integrating QKD with classical cryptography systems to facilitate its acceptance and use by customers.

This Special Issue aims to focus on the recent developments in QKD. We welcome all papers related to secure communication based on quantum principles, not only those concerning QKD but also post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Prof. Dr. Shihai Sun
Dr. Bo Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • quantum cryptography
  • post-quantum cryptography
  • quantum chip
  • quantum communication
  • quantum entanglement
  • quantum internet

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

8 pages, 377 KiB  
Article
Chip-Based Electronic System for Quantum Key Distribution
by Siyuan Zhang, Wei Mao, Shaobo Luo and Shihai Sun
Entropy 2024, 26(5), 382; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/e26050382 - 29 Apr 2024
Viewed by 192
Abstract
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has garnered significant attention due to its unconditional security based on the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. While QKD has been demonstrated by various groups and commercial QKD products are available, the development of a fully chip-based QKD system, [...] Read more.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has garnered significant attention due to its unconditional security based on the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. While QKD has been demonstrated by various groups and commercial QKD products are available, the development of a fully chip-based QKD system, aimed at reducing costs, size, and power consumption, remains a significant technological challenge. Most researchers focus on the optical aspects, leaving the integration of the electronic components largely unexplored. In this paper, we present the design of a fully integrated electrical control chip for QKD applications. The chip, fabricated using 28 nm CMOS technology, comprises five main modules: an ARM processor for digital signal processing, delay cells for timing synchronization, ADC for sampling analog signals from monitors, OPAMP for signal amplification, and DAC for generating the required voltage for phase or intensity modulators. According to the simulations, the minimum delay is 11ps, the open-loop gain of the operational amplifier is 86.2 dB, the sampling rate of the ADC reaches 50 MHz, and the DAC achieves a high rate of 100 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the first design and evaluation of a fully integrated driver chip for QKD, holding the potential to significantly enhance QKD system performance. Thus, we believe our work could inspire future investigations toward the development of more efficient and reliable QKD systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Quantum Key Distribution)
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