Spurious Pulse Detection in Fibre-Optic Channels Using Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Single-Photon Avalanche Photodiodes

Abstract The safe exchange of cryptographic keys is made possible by Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which makes use of the basic ideas of quantum physics. Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), key generation rate, and transmission distance are important performance measures in QKD systems. Nevertheless, undesired noise sources that impair system performance, such dark counts and afterpulses, restrict traditional QKD implementations. The Measurement-Device-Independent QKD (MDI-QKD) protocol and Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) for single-photon detection are combined in this research to create an improved QKD model. All detector-side-channel weaknesses are naturally eliminated by the MDI-QKD protocol, while SPADs' excellent sensitivity and temporal precision allow for precise noise source detection and characterisation, including dark count and afterpulse rates. When compared to conventional QKD systems, the suggested method performs better when assessed using QBER. According to experimental findings, including SPADs into the MDI-QKD architecture greatly improves the security and effectiveness of quantum communication systems by detecting detector-induced errors.