Rigorous calibration of homodyne detection efficiency for continuous-variable quantum key distribution

We propose a rigorous calibration method for homodyne detection efficiency, which combines all the factors that affect detection efficiency to calibrate together through the actual homodyne detection. With this method, the transmittance converted from electronic noise in the one-time calibration method of the shot noise can be attributed to the detection inefficiency. Thus, a trusted detection noise-free model for continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) can be established, which simplifies the calibration of shot noise while having the same performance as the trusted detection noise model. We demonstrate this calibration method with a balanced detector based on a transimpedance amplifier. Experimental results show that detection efficiency will be overestimated if the integration factor of the detector is overlooked. The overestimation of the detection efficiency leads to an underestimation of modulation variance and excess noise when the modulation variance is monitored by the balanced detector, which opens security loopholes. Our method may prove a necessary method in the calibration of detection efficiency for CV-QKD. (c) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This study proposes a rigorous calibration method for homodyne detection efficiency, aiming to establish a trusted noise-free detection model for continuous-variable quantum key distribution. The experimental results demonstrate that overestimating the detection efficiency leads to underestimation of modulation variance and excess noise, which poses security vulnerabilities.