Mainz 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 2: Nanophotonics and Integrated Photonics I
Q 2.4: Vortrag
Montag, 2. März 2026, 12:30–12:45, P 3
Characterisation of a photonic integrated circuit-based QKD transmitter — •Joost Vermeer1,2, Ömer Bayraktar1,2, Jonas Pudelko1,2, Kevin Günthner1,2, and Christoph Marquardt1,2 — 1Chair of Optical Quantum Technologies, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 7 / A3, Erlangen — 2Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), Staudtstr. 2, Erlangen
Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers a new way to provide secure communication. Miniaturising the required optical components allows us to implement it in many more situations, including satellites. This would allow us to overcome the range limitation of fiber-based systems and lead to worldwide secure communication.
One method of miniaturising optical systems is using photonic integrated circuits (PIC), where many optical components are integrated on a single chip. We have designed a 4×8 mm2 indium-phosphide PIC, which can act as a transmitter for phase-based BB-84 QKD. It consists of a pulsed laser, an IQ modulator to turn each laser pulse into a pair of pulses with a phase difference determined by a quantum random number generator, and an intensity modulator containing multiple semiconductor optical amplifiers to set the required output intensity.
Integrating all of these components close together can increase the strength of unwanted interactions between them. Using both external measurement devices and detectors integrated in the PIC, we characterise the PIC to investigate how strong these effects are.
Keywords: Quantum key distribution; Photonic integrated circuits