Highly integrated quantum key distribution transmitter enabled by silicon photonics
Abstract
Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides information-theoretic security independent of computational assumptions, yet the bulk and cost of current systems hinder large-scale deployment. Although integrated photonic technologies have enabled highly integrated QKD chips, practical QKD transmitters are still predominantly implemented as rack-mounted systems. Here, we demonstrate a highly integrated standalone QKD transmitter that integrates all essential functionalities required for practical QKD operation within a compact platform built around a silicon photonic encoding chip. The transmitter occupies only 167 × 56 × 21 mm3 (∼ 0.2 dm3), comparable in size to a half-height, half-width PCIe card and more than 30 times smaller in volume than a conventional 1U rack-mounted system. Paired with a conventional discrete-component receiver, it achieves a secure key rate of 219.1 kbps over 51.3 km of standard single-mode fiber, with performance comparable to that of conventional discrete-component implementations. This work bridges the gap between photonic chip integration and deployable QKD hardware, marking an important step toward transitioning QKD transmitters from conventional rack-mounted equipment to compact board-level platforms.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{liu2026highly,
title = {{Highly integrated quantum key distribution transmitter enabled by silicon photonics}},
author = {Rende Liu and Yan-Lin Tang and Cheng-Guang Dong and Yan Ma and Guo-Qing Liu and Zhi-Lin Xie and Shuai Li and Mi Zou and Hao Liang and Shi-biao Tang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.23413},
eprint = {2607.23413},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23413},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Highly integrated quantum key distribution transmitter enabled by silicon photonics
AU - Rende Liu
AU - Yan-Lin Tang
AU - Cheng-Guang Dong
AU - Yan Ma
AU - Guo-Qing Liu
AU - Zhi-Lin Xie
AU - Shuai Li
AU - Mi Zou
AU - Hao Liang
AU - Shi-biao Tang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.23413
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23413
AB - Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides information-theoretic security independent of computational assumptions, yet the bulk and cost of current systems hinder large-scale deployment. Although integrated photonic technologies have enabled highly integrated QKD chips, practical QKD transmitters are still predominantly implemented as rack-mounted systems. Here, we demonstrate a highly integrated standalone QKD transmitter that integrates all essential functionalities required for practical QKD operation within a compact platform built around a silicon photonic encoding chip. The transmitter occupies only 167 × 56 × 21 mm^3 (∼ 0.2 dm^3), comparable in size to a half-height, half-width PCIe card and more than 30 times smaller in volume than a conventional 1U rack-mounted system. Paired with a conventional discrete-component receiver, it achieves a secure key rate of 219.1 kbps over 51.3 km of standard single-mode fiber, with performance comparable to that of conventional discrete-component implementations. This work bridges the gap between photonic chip integration and deployable QKD hardware, marking an important step toward transitioning QKD transmitters from conventional rack-mounted equipment to compact board-level platforms.
ER -