Improving the Maximum Transmission Distance of Self-Referenced Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution Using a Noiseless Linear Amplifier

We show that a noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) can be placed properly at the receiver’s end to improve the performance of self-referenced (SR) continuous variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) when the reference pulses are weak. In SR CV-QKD, the imperfections of the amplitude modulator limit the maximal amplitude of the reference pulses, while the performance of SR CV-QKD is positively related to the amplitude of the reference pulses. An NLA can compensate the impacts of large phase noise introduced by the weak reference pulses. Simulation results derived from collective attacks show that this scheme can improve the performance of SR CV-QKD with weak reference pulses, in terms of extending maximum transmission distance. An NLA with a gain of g can increase the maximum transmission distance by the equivalent of 20log10g dB of losses