https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-025-00349-y
Research
10 GHz robust polarization modulation towards high-speed satellite-based quantum communication
1
State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
2
National Engineering Research Center for Public Safety Risk Perception and Control by Big Data, China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology, Beijing, China
3
CETC Academy of Electronics and Information Technology Group Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
4
College of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
5
School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
6
College of Computer, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
7
Information and Navigation College, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, China
a
liubo08@nudt.edu.cn
b
ytdai@bupt.edu.cn
Received:
6
March
2025
Accepted:
8
April
2025
Published online:
11
April
2025
In practical satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, the preparation and transmission of polarization-encoding photons suffer from complex environmental effects and high channel loss. Consequently, the hinge to enhancing the secure key rate (SKR) lies in achieving robust, low-error, and high-speed polarization modulation. Although the schemes that enable self-compensation demonstrate remarkable robustness, their modulation speed is limited to around 2 GHz to prevent the interaction between the electrical signal and the reverse optical pulses. Here, we utilize the non-reciprocity of the lithium niobate modulators and eliminate the modulation on the reverse optical pulses. This characteristic is widely available in the radio-frequency band, allowing the modulation speed to no longer be limited by the self-compensating optics and enabling further increases. The measured average intrinsic quantum bit error rate of the four polarization states at 10 GHz system repetition frequency is as low as 0.53% over 10 min without any compensation. The simulation results show that our scheme can maintain a SKR of about 5 kbps even at the extreme communication distances between the satellite and the earth. Our work can be efficiently applied in high-speed, high-loss satellite-based quantum communication scenarios.
Key words: Satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution / Non-reciprocity / High-speed Polarization Modulation
© The Author(s) 2025
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