An Investigation of the Impacts of Available Real Single-photon Sources on Quantum Communication Secure Length

Abstract

One of the most significant applications of single-photon sources is secure quantum communication. In this research, the security of the most famous protocol of quantum key distribution (BB84) has been studied by considering the characteristics of a single-photon source. This paper derives the impact of propagation on photon statistics. The result reveals that the propagation leads to a change in its value, especially in long distances. Besides, the parameter deviation from an ideal source causes a decrease in the confident length. We achieved a difference of up to 1800 km for the safe distance by studying the relation for minimum transmission coefficient in available single-photon sources.