This chapter describes the application of lasers, specifically diode lasers,
in the area of quantum key distribution (QKD). First, we motivate the
distribution of cryptographic keys based on quantum physical properties of
light, give a brief introduction to QKD assuming the reader has no or very
little knowledge about cryptography, and briefly present the state-of-the-art
of QKD. In the second half of the chapter we describe, as an example of a
real-world QKD system, the system deployed between the University of Calgary
and SAIT Polytechnic. We conclude the chapter with a brief discussion of
quantum networks and future steps.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure
