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Practical free-space quantum key distribution over 10 km in daylight and at night

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Published 12 July 2002 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Focus on Quantum Cryptography Citation Richard J Hughes et al 2002 New J. Phys. 4 43 DOI 10.1088/1367-2630/4/1/343

1367-2630/4/1/43

Abstract

We have demonstrated quantum key distribution (QKD) (Bennett C H and Brassard G 1984 Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Computers, Systems, and Signal Processing (Bangalore, India) p 175) over a 10 km, 1-airmass atmospheric range during daylight and at night. Secret random bit sequences of the quality required for the cryptographic keys used to initialize secure communications devices were transferred at practical rates with realistic security. By identifying the physical parameters that determine the system's secrecy efficiency, we infer that free-space QKD will be practical over much longer ranges under these and other atmospheric and instrumental conditions.

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