Open AccessFPGA‐assisted state‐of‐polarisation generation for polarisation‐encoded optical communications
Author(s) -
Muga Nelson J.,
Ramos Mariana F.,
Mantey Sara T.,
Silva Nuno A.,
Pinto Armando N.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iet optoelectronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.379
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1751-8776
pISSN - 1751-8768
DOI - 10.1049/iet-opt.2020.0035
Subject(s) - field programmable gate array , quantum key distribution , gate array , bb84 , computer science , qubit , encoding (memory) , process (computing) , key generation , electronic engineering , key (lock) , computer hardware , quantum , physics , cryptography , algorithm , optics , quantum cryptography , engineering , quantum information , photon , computer security , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , operating system
This study presents a theoretical model for polarisation manipulation using electronic polarisation controllers (EPCs) based on fibre squeezing. A method to calculate the EPC configuration in order to transform between two arbitrary states of polarisation (SOP) is presented. After, a technique to deterministically generate four SOPs for use in polarisation‐encoded quantum communication systems is proposed. Moreover, the effectiveness of the proposed technique is experimentally assessed through the generation of two pairs of orthogonal SOPs. The experimental implementation used an field programmable gate array (FPGA) board to electrically control the four waveplates of the EPC, reaching a rate of 500 qubit/s. Results show that this polarisation generation process is intrinsically stable, demonstrating its potential for practical implementations of polarisation‐encoding quantum key distribution systems using the BB84 and B92 protocols.