Influence of atmospheric turbulence on the propagation of quantum states of light using plane-wave encoding

We consider the possibility of performing quantum key distribution (QKD) by encoding information onto individual photons using plane-wave basis states. We compare the results of this calculation to those obtained by earlier workers, who considered encoding using OAM-carrying vortex modes of the field. We find theoretically that plane-wave encoding is less strongly influenced by atmospheric turbulence than is OAM encoding, with potentially important implications for free-space quantum key distribution. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America