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Luis Trigo Vidarte

Publications and source records attributed to Luis Trigo Vidarte.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Integration of quantum random number generators with post-quantum cryptography algorithms

As quantum technologies advance, the security of popular cryptographic protocols becomes more threatened by the capabilities of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers (CRQCs). In this scenario, Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) has become a potential solution to prolong the life of existing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems. However, PQC protocols depend on high-quality randomness for key generation and encapsulation procedures, with the quality of the entropy source potentially having a profound impact on the security of the overall system. In this work, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept enabling the incorporation of Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG) devices within communication networks using PQC-based Transport Layer Security (TLS).Using open-source cryptographic libraries and commercial QRNG hardware, we demonstrate their use as entropy sources via an Entropy-as-a-Service (EaaS) model. We highlight two particular use cases: a fully virtualized private PKI network and a connection to an external PQC-enabled server. Experimental results show that EaaS QRNG enables real-time entropy monitoring and quality assessment in cryptographic management systems, with negligible impact on TLS handshake time.

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Integrated InP-based transmitter for Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Developing quantum key distribution (QKD) systems using monolithic photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can accelerate their adoption by a wide range of markets, thanks to the potential reduction in size, complexity of the overall system, power consumption, and production cost. In this work, we design, fabricate and characterize an InP-based PIC transmitter for continuous-variable (CV) QKD applications. In a proof-of-principle experiment implementing a pulsed Gaussian-modulated coherent state (GMCS) CV-QKD protocol over an optical fiber channel of 11 km, the system showed a performance compatible with a secret key rate of 78 kbps in the asymptotic regime. These results show the potential of InP technologies to integrate CV-QKD systems onto a monolithic platform.

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QOSST: A Highly-Modular Open Source Platform for Experimental Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) enables secret key exchange between two remote parties with information-theoretic security rooted in the laws of quantum physics. Encoding key information in continuous variables (CV), such as the values of quadrature components of coherent states of light, brings implementations much closer to standard optical communication systems, but this comes at the price of significant complexity in the digital signal processing techniques required for operation at low signal-to-noise ratios. In this work, we wish to lower the barriers to entry for CV-QKD experiments associated to this difficulty by providing a highly modular, open source software that is in principle hardware agnostic and can be used in multiple configurations. We benchmarked this software, called QOSST, using an experimental setup with a locally generated local oscillator, frequency multiplexed pilots and RF-heterodyne detection, and obtained state-of-the-art secret key rates of the order of Mbit/s over metropolitan distances at the asymptotic limit. We hope that QOSST can be used to stimulate further experimental advances in CV-QKD and be improved and extended by the community to achieve high performance in a wide variety of configurations.

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Experimental demonstration of Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution with a silicon photonics integrated receiver

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a prominent application in the field of quantum cryptography providing information-theoretic security for secret key exchange. The implementation of QKD systems on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can reduce the size and cost of such systems and facilitate their deployment in practical infrastructures. To this end, continuous-variable (CV) QKD systems are particularly well-suited as they do not require single-photon detectors, whose integration is presently challenging. Here we present a CV-QKD receiver based on a silicon PIC capable of performing balanced detection. We characterize its performance in a laboratory QKD setup using a frequency multiplexed pilot scheme with specifically designed data processing allowing for high modulation and secret key rates. The obtained excess noise values are compatible with asymptotic secret key rates of 2.4 Mbit/s and 220 kbit/s at an emulated distance of 10 km and 23 km, respectively. These results demonstrate the potential of this technology towards fully integrated devices suitable for high-speed, metropolitan-distance secure communication.

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Experimental Demonstration of Discrete Modulation Formats for Continuous Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables the establishment of secret keys between users connected via a channel vulnerable to eavesdropping, with information-theoretic security, that is, independently of the power of a malevolent party. QKD systems based on the encoding of the key information on continuous variables (CV), such as the values of the quadrature components of coherent states, present the major advantage that they only require standard telecommunication technology. However, the most general security proofs for CV-QKD required until now the use of Gaussian modulation by the transmitter, complicating practical implementations. Here, we experimentally implement a protocol that allows for arbitrary, Gaussian-like, discrete modulations, whose security is based on a theoretical proof that applies very generally to such situations. These modulation formats are compatible with the use of powerful tools of coherent optical telecommunication, allowing our system to reach a performance of tens of megabit per second secret key rates over 25 km.

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Roadmap on Integrated Quantum Photonics

Integrated photonics is at the heart of many classical technologies, from optical communications to biosensors, LIDAR, and data center fiber interconnects. There is strong evidence that these integrated technologies will play a key role in quantum systems as they grow from few-qubit prototypes to tens of thousands of qubits. The underlying laser and optical quantum technologies, with the required functionality and performance, can only be realized through the integration of these components onto quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs) with accompanying electronics. In the last decade, remarkable advances in quantum photonic integration and a dramatic reduction in optical losses have enabled benchtop experiments to be scaled down to prototype chips with improvements in efficiency, robustness, and key performance metrics. The reduction in size, weight, power, and improvement in stability that will be enabled by QPICs will play a key role in increasing the degree of complexity and scale in quantum demonstrations. In the next decade, with sustained research, development, and investment in the quantum photonic ecosystem (i.e. PIC-based platforms, devices and circuits, fabrication and integration processes, packaging, and testing and benchmarking), we will witness the transition from single- and few-function prototypes to the large-scale integration of multi-functional and reconfigurable QPICs that will define how information is processed, stored, transmitted, and utilized for quantum computing, communications, metrology, and sensing. This roadmap highlights the current progress in the field of integrated quantum photonics, future challenges, and advances in science and technology needed to meet these challenges.

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Feasibility of satellite-to-ground continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Establishing secure communication links at a global scale is a major potential application of quantum information science but also extremely challenging for the underlying technology. While milestone experiments using satellite-to-ground links and exploiting singe-photon encoding for implementing quantum key distribution have shown recently that this goal is achievable, it is still necessary to further investigate practical solutions compatible with classical optical communication systems. Here we examine the feasibility of establishing secret keys in a satellite-to-ground downlink configuration using continuous-variable encoding, which can be implemented using standard telecommunication components certified for space environment and able to operate at high symbol rates. Considering a realistic channel model and state-of-the-art technology, and exploiting an orbit subdivision technique for mitigating fluctuations in the transmission efficiency, we find positive secret key rates for a low-Earth-orbit scenario, while finite-size effects can be a limiting factor for higher orbits. Our analysis determines regions of values for important experimental parameters where secret key exchange is possible and can be used as a guideline for experimental efforts in this direction.

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Experimental investigation of practical unforgeable quantum money

Wiesner's unforgeable quantum money scheme is widely celebrated as the first quantum information application. Based on the no-cloning property of quantum mechanics, this scheme allows for the creation of credit cards used in authenticated transactions offering security guarantees impossible to achieve by classical means. However, despite its central role in quantum cryptography, its experimental implementation has remained elusive because of the lack of quantum memories and of practical verification techniques. Here, we experimentally implement a quantum money protocol relying on classical verification that rigorously satisfies the security condition for unforgeability. Our system exploits polarization encoding of weak coherent states of light and operates under conditions that ensure compatibility with state-of-the-art quantum memories. We derive working regimes for our system using a security analysis taking into account all practical imperfections. Our results constitute a major step towards a real-world realization of this milestone protocol.

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