Air-to-ground quantum communication
Air-to-ground quantum communication
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DOI：
10.1038/nphoton.2013.46
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发表时间：
2013-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
35
通讯作者：
Weinfurter, Harald
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nauerth, Sebastian;Moll, Florian;Weinfurter, Harald
量子密钥分发（1,2）（QKD）是量子信息新领域的第一个商业应用，首次在政府和金融部门进行常规应用(3)，并成功演示了可信节点网络（4,5）。今天，主要目标是通过量子中继器(6)或卫星（7-9）进行有效的远程密钥分发，以期实现全球安全通信。在通过卫星实现QKD的过程中，在距离144公里的两个地面站（10）之间进行了安全密钥分发的自由空间演示。这一设想在衰减和波动方面与低地球轨道卫星与地面站之间的联系相当。但是，与快速移动平台的密钥交换仍有待证明。在这里，我们首次证明了飞机和地面站之间BB84 QKD的可行性。通过在飞机以290公里每小时（-1）的速度在20公里（即4毫秒每小时（-1））的距离上建立一个稳定的低噪声量子通信信道，我们的结果代表了卫星（11）或高空平台的典型通信链路。
Quantum key distribution(1,2) (QKD) is the first commercial application in the new field of quantum information, with first routine applications in government and financial sectors(3) and with successful demonstrations of trusted node networks(4,5). Today, the main goal is efficient long-range key distribution via either quantum repeaters(6) or satellites(7-9), with a view to enabling global secure communication. En route to achieving QKD via satellites, a free-space demonstration of secure key distribution was performed between two ground stations(10), over a distance of 144 km. This scenario is comparable to links between satellites in low Earth orbit and ground stations with respect to both attenuation and fluctuations. However, key exchange with rapidly moving platforms remained to be demonstrated. Here, we prove, for the first time, the feasibility of BB84 QKD between an aeroplane and a ground station. By establishing a stable and low-noise quantum communication channel with the aeroplane moving at 290 km h(-1) at a distance of 20 km-that is, 4 mrad s(-1)-our results are representative of typical communication links to satellites(11) or to high-altitude platforms.