Free-space quantum key distribution with Rb vapor filters

By using Rb vapor filters, free-space quantum key distribution with the B92 protocol was realized experimentally; the filters based on the Faraday anomalous dispersion effect were used to suppress strong background light. With these atomic filters as spectral filtering, average transmission rates of sifted keys and corrected keys have reached as high as 3.14 and 1.56kbits∕s, respectively, while the error rate was maintained at a reasonable low level of 5.10%. The experimental results show that our Rb vapor filters with transmission efficiency of around 60% operate well under the condition of the mean photon number n¯⩽0.1.