The Impact of Fiber Random Birefringence in Polarization-Encoded Quantum Communications
Armando N. Pinto, Mariana Ferreira Ramos, Andoni C. Santos, Nuno A. Silva, Nelson Jesus Muga · 2019
We analyze the impact of fiber random birefringence in realistic quantum communication systems in which information is encoded in single-photon polarization qubits. We discuss an algorithm to dynamically compensate the polarization random rotations. We assess the algorithm performance considering both the polarization drift dynamics and the QBER threshold. We apply the polarization drift control algorithm to a realistic quantum key distribution system based on the BB84 and we assess its performance in terms of key generation rate for different values of polarization linewidth.