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Device calibration impacts security of quantum key distribution
Nitin Jain1, Christoffer Wittmann, Lars Lydersen
1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Günther-Scharowsky-Straße 1, Bau 24, 91058 Erlangen, Germany. nitin.jain@mpl.mpg.de
Abstract:
Characterizing the physical channel and calibrating the cryptosystem hardware are prerequisites for establishing a quantum channel for quantum key distribution (QKD). Moreover, an inappropriately implemented calibration routine can open a fatal security loophole. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to induce a large temporal detector efficiency mismatch in a commercial QKD system by deceiving a channel length calibration routine. We then devise an optimal and realistic strategy using faked states to break the security of the cryptosystem. A fix for this loophole is also suggested.
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