Drone- and Vehicle-Based Quantum Key Distribution

Andrew Conrad; Roderick Cochran; Daniel Sanchez-Rosales; Samantha Isaac; Timur Javid; Tahereh Rezaei; A. J. Schroeder; Grzegorz Golba; Akash Gutha; Brian Wilens; Kyle Herndon; Alex Hill; Joseph Chapman; Ian Call; Joseph Szabo; Aodhan Corrigan; Lars Kamin; Norbert Lütkenhaus; Daniel J. Gauthier; Paul G. Kwiat

arXiv · 2505.17587

Drone- and Vehicle-Based Quantum Key Distribution

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Abstract

Quantum key distribution is a point-to-point communication protocol that leverages quantum mechanics to enable secure information exchange. Commonly, the transmitter and receiver stations are at fixed locations, and the single-photon quantum states are transmitted over fiber or free space. Here, we describe a modular, platform-agnostic, quantum key distribution transmitter and receiver with reduced size, weight, and power consumption to realize a mobile quantum communication system. We deploy the system on different moving platforms, demonstrating drone-to-drone, drone-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-vehicle quantum communication, achieving secure key rates in the finite-key regime in the range of 1.6 - 20 kbps. To prove the security of the system, we develop advanced physics models of the devices that account for non-ideal behaviors that are of greater importance in mobile platforms. The modular system can be easily upgraded to include sources of entangled photonic quantum states, which will find application in future quantum networks.

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Andrew Conrad, Roderick Cochran, Daniel Sanchez-Rosales, Samantha Isaac, Timur Javid, Tahereh Rezaei, A. J. Schroeder, Grzegorz Golba, Akash Gutha, Brian Wilens, Kyle Herndon, Alex Hill, Joseph Chapman, Ian Call, Joseph Szabo, Aodhan Corrigan, Lars Kamin, Norbert Lütkenhaus, Daniel J. Gauthier, Paul G. Kwiat. 2025-05-23. Drone- and Vehicle-Based Quantum Key Distribution. https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17587

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