Boosting the Performance of Reference-Frame- Independent Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution
Jing-Yang Liu, Xingyu Zhou, Chunhui Zhang, Hua-Jian Ding, Yi-Peng Chen, Jian Li, Qin Wang · Journal of Lightwave Technology · 2021
Among all present quantum key distribution protocols, the reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-MDI-QKD) is standing out due to its high security and practicability, since it can not only remove all detector-side-channel attacks, but also relax the requirement of reference-frame calibrations. However, till today, the performance degradation of RFI-MDI-QKD caused by finite-size effects is one of the biggest impediment to its practical implementations. Here, we propose an enhanced RFI-MDI-QKD protocol which is highly resistant to the finite-size effect and immensely boosts both the key rate and transmission distance. As a result, it can even surpass the most advanced MDI-QKD protocol under larger rotation angles of reference frames. Furthermore, with the state-of-the-art RFI-MDI-QKD setup, we successfully carry out a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration at a record distance of 300km. The experiments under non-ideal condition verify the advantage and robustness of our present work.