Scintillation has minimal impact on far-field Bennett-Brassard 1984 protocol quantum key distribution

Abstract

The effect of scintillation, arising from propagation through atmospheric turbulence, on the sift and error probabilities of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system that uses the weak-laser-pulse version of the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) protocol is evaluated. Two earth-space scenarios are examined: satellite-to-ground and ground-to-satellite transmission. Both lie in the far-field power-transfer regime. This work complements previous analysis of turbulence effects in near-field terrestrial BB84 QKD [ J. H. Shapiro Phys. Rev. A 67 022309 (2003)]. More importantly, it shows that scintillation has virtually no impact on the sift and error probabilities in earth-space BB84 QKD, something that has been implicitly assumed in prior analyses for that application. This result contrasts rather sharply with what is known for high-speed laser communications over such paths, in which deep, long-lived scintillation fades present a major challenge to high-reliability operation.