Robust Quantum Communication Using a Polarization-Entangled Photon Pair

J.-C. Boileau, R. Laflamme, M. Laforest, and C. R. Myers
Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 220501 – Published 22 November 2004

Abstract

Noise and imperfection of realistic devices are major obstacles for implementing quantum cryptography. In particular, birefringence in optical fibers leads to decoherence of qubits encoded in photon polarization. We show how to overcome this problem by doing single qubit quantum communication without a shared spatial reference frame and precise timing. Quantum information will be encoded in pairs of photons using tag operations, which corresponds to the time delay of one of the polarization modes. This method is robust against the phase instability of the interferometers despite the use of time bins. Moreover synchronized clocks are not required in the ideal no photon loss case as they are necessary only to label the different encoded qubits.

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  • Received 16 June 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.220501

©2004 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J.-C. Boileau, R. Laflamme, M. Laforest, and C. R. Myers

  • Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 22 — 26 November 2004

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