Optical-Amplifier-Compatible Long-Distance Secure Key Generation Based on Random Phase Fluctuations for WDM Systems

Abstract

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a secure key generation and distribution system that is compatible with optical amplifiers and standard wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission systems. The key is generated from the phase fluctuations induced by environmental instabilities. The key generation system is tested in a 240 km bidirectional fiber-pair link with multiple optical amplifiers. To demonstrate the compatibility with WDM systems, 38 WDM channels are transmitted together with the key distribution channel. The secret key is protected against eavesdropping and coherence detection attack by the wide-band property of the signal carrier and the fast-changing rate of the phase fluctuations.