Quantum-Level Crosstalk Characterization of a 16x16 MEMS Optical Switch for Dynamic Quantum Communications
2026-07-27 • Cryptography and Security
Cryptography and Security
AI summaryⓘ
The authors studied a 16-by-16 optical switch used in quantum communication to see how signals might unintentionally interfere with each other (crosstalk) at the quantum level. They used special detectors called SNSPDs to measure this effect between all possible pairs of channels. Then, they compared these measurements to a theoretical model to understand how this crosstalk could impact a common quantum key distribution protocol called decoy-state BB84, which is important for secure communication. Their work helps to assess the switch's suitability for multi-user quantum communication.
quantum key distributiondecoy-state BB84optical switchMEMSquantum crosstalkSNSPDmulti-user communicationquantum communicationquantum detectorstheoretical modeling
Authors
Persefoni Konteli, Nikolas Makris, Grigoris Anastasiou, Konstantinos Tsimvrakidis, George T. Kanellos
Abstract
We present an all-to-all quantum-level crosstalk characterization of a commercial 16x16 MEMS optical switch for multi-user quantum communications using SNSPDs, correlating experimental data with a theoretical impact analysis on the decoy-state BB84 QKD protocol.