Speaker
Description
Quantum key distribution (QKD), which generates a cryptographic
key via a quantum channel, has paved the way for physically secure
communication. Over the last decades, most efforts in developing QKD
focused on long-distance implementations, which are costly and challenging due to exponential losses of photons in quantum channels. An alternative approach is hybrid cryptography, where key distribution
occurs over short distances, followed by quantum-secure classical encryption over long distances. Initially, an information-theoretically
secure Root-of-Trust is exchanged via a quantum channel, which is
stored on two end modules. Afterwards, this Root-of-Trust can be
employed to generate encryption keys through a classical rekeying algorithm. In this approach, it is possible to spatially separate the end
modules and communicate over existing classical infrastructure, since
no quantum channel is required after initialisation. We present a compact source for entangled photon pairs that enables short-range QKD. In future work, we aim to implement low-cost end modules based on semiconductor electronics for the detection scheme of the experimental setup.