Frequency-matching quantum key distribution
Hao-Tao Zhu, Yizhi Huang, Abdullah Rasmita, Chao Ding, Xiangbin Cai, Haoran Zhang, Xiongfeng Ma, Weibo Gao · Physical Review Applied · 2026
Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables information-theoretically secure communication against eavesdropping. However, phase instability remains a challenge across many QKD applications, particularly in schemes such as twin-field QKD and measurement-device-independent QKD. The most dominant source of phase fluctuation arises from the frequency offset between independent lasers. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a classical photodiode-based active compensation scheme for laser frequency mismatches and incorporate it into a mode-pairing QKD protocol. We have achieved an error rate approaching the theoretical limit and surpassing the linear key-rate bound over a fiber distance of 296.8 km. This approach provides a practical solution for frequency matching between independent lasers and can be extended to other fields requiring precise phase stabilization.