Silicon photonic transceiver circuit for high-speed polarization-based discrete variable quantum key distribution
Hong Nian Cai, Christopher M. Long, Christopher T. DeRose, Nicholas A. Boynton, Junji Urayama, Ryan M. Camacho, Andrew T. S. Pomerene, Andrew Starbuck, Douglas C. Trotter, Paul Davids, Anthony L. Lentine · Optics Express · 2017
We demonstrate a silicon photonic transceiver circuit for high-speed discrete variable quantum key distribution that employs a common structure for transmit and receive functions. The device is intended for use in polarization-based quantum cryptographic protocols, such as BB84. Our characterization indicates that the circuit can generate the four BB84 states (TE/TM/45°/135° linear polarizations) with >30 dB polarization extinction ratios and gigabit per second modulation speed, and is capable of decoding any polarization bases differing by 90° with high extinction ratios.