Decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution Daniel Sabogal Perez, Daniel Urrego, Juan Rafael Alvarez, Andres Herrera, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We put forward and demonstrate a controllable decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution scheme. The protocol is based on the possibility of introducing controllable decoherence to polarization qubits using the spatial degree of freedom of light. We show that our method reduces the amount of information that an eavesdropper can obtain in the BB84 protocol under the entangling probe attack. We demonstrate experimentally that Alice and Bob can agree on a scheme that gives low values of the quantum bit error rate, despite the presence of a large amount of decoherence in the transmission channel of the BB84 protocol. Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics Physical sciences/Physics/Optical physics/Quantum optics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Fibre optics and optical communications Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files LaTeXtemplateforpreparingsupplementarymaterialforsubmission.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 25 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 30 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 02 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 19 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 19 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6649533","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":467244261,"identity":"603e56c1-af71-4cc7-97bb-6169cc97c0a2","order_by":0,"name":"Daniel Sabogal Perez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad de Los Andes","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"Sabogal","lastName":"Perez","suffix":""},{"id":467244262,"identity":"b41a3b7d-78ac-4724-bd40-05a4dfeb60ea","order_by":1,"name":"Daniel Urrego","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Photonic Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"","lastName":"Urrego","suffix":""},{"id":467244263,"identity":"091cea84-44b1-4841-830e-6355398cac9b","order_by":2,"name":"Juan Rafael Alvarez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Télécom Paris","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juan","middleName":"Rafael","lastName":"Alvarez","suffix":""},{"id":467244264,"identity":"d78eb951-4b37-4837-a4b5-ad1afe96892d","order_by":3,"name":"Andres Herrera","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad de Los Andes","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andres","middleName":"","lastName":"Herrera","suffix":""},{"id":467244265,"identity":"10c43782-9317-4477-b800-d90e67d4ce77","order_by":4,"name":"Juan P. Torres","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Photonic Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juan","middleName":"P.","lastName":"Torres","suffix":""},{"id":467244266,"identity":"963e4e3e-a02d-4439-ac5e-42ef66384886","order_by":5,"name":"Alejandra Valencia","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad de Los Andes","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alejandra","middleName":"","lastName":"Valencia","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-12 20:23:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13508-z","type":"published","date":"2025-08-25T15:58:11+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90345825,"identity":"1c4d52e4-3820-44a0-ba18-b23384277f57","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-01 16:11:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":643835,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"hvtdpssbyqtdqjrcndbdbynwscqgwwny.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6649533/v1_covered_06116916-3806-4e41-b20a-ce858ae2edbc.pdf"},{"id":84042817,"identity":"e0f0a1a8-ceff-4139-8474-cdc8abd021f2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-06 06:36:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":877335,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LaTeXtemplateforpreparingsupplementarymaterialforsubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6649533/v1/4b95a11bc6385d507854a734.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"We put forward and demonstrate a controllable decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution scheme. The protocol is based on the possibility of introducing controllable decoherence to polarization qubits using the spatial degree of freedom of light. We show that our method reduces the amount of information that an eavesdropper can obtain in the BB84 protocol under the entangling probe attack. We demonstrate experimentally that Alice and Bob can agree on a scheme that gives low values of the quantum bit error rate, despite the presence of a large amount of decoherence in the transmission channel of the BB84 protocol.","manuscriptTitle":"Decoherence-assisted quantum key distribution","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-06 06:36:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6649533/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-06-30T17:13:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-16T08:31:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-12T02:16:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"255428349004270373469378935434446610461","date":"2025-06-06T06:47:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"277661635889553133516732785367019798705","date":"2025-06-05T23:24:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-04T06:32:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-06-02T09:31:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-05-19T20:44:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-05-19T20:43:04+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5f5e2e8b-b2a3-457e-8f4c-5060c9a9c7c7","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 6th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":49610790,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics"},{"id":49610791,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Optical physics/Quantum optics"},{"id":49610792,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Fibre optics and optical communications"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-01T16:10:09+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6649533","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13508-z","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-08-25 15:58:11","publishedOnDateReadable":"August 25th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-06 06:36:50","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-13508-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13508-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6649533","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6649533","identity":"rs-6649533","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.