Calibration of the polarization basis between the transmitter and receiver is an important task in quantum key distribution (QKD). An effective polarization-basis tracking scheme will decrease the quantum bit error rate (QBER) and improve the efficiency of a polarization encoding QKD system. In this paper, we proposed a polarization-basis tracking scheme using only unveiled sifted key bits while performing error correction by legitimate users, rather than introducing additional reference light or interrupting the transmission of quantum signals. A polarization-encoding fiber BB84 QKD prototype was developed to examine the validity of this scheme. An average QBER of 2.32% and a standard derivation of 0.87% have been obtained during 24 hours of continuous operation.
@article{arxiv.1608.00366,
title = {Polarization basis tracking scheme for quantum key distribution with revealed sifted key bits},
author = {Yu-Yang Ding and Wei Chen and Hua Chen and Chao Wang and Ya-Ping li and Zhen-Qiang Yin and Shuang Wang and Guang-Can Guo and Zheng-Fu Han},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.00366},
year = {2017}
}