Towards Global Quantum Key Distribution

Quantum Physics arXiv:2511.10982 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 14 Nov 2025] Title:Towards Global Quantum Key Distribution Authors:Haoran Zhang, Haotao Zhu, Ruihua He, Yan Zhang, Chao Ding, Lajos Hanzo, Weibo Gao View a PDF of the paper titled Towards Global Quantum Key Distribution, by Haoran Zhang and 5 other authors View PDF Abstract:Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) supports the negotiation and sharing of private keys with unconditional security between authorized parties. Over the years, theoretical advances and experimental demonstrations have successfully transitioned QKD from laboratory research to commercial applications. As QKD expands its reach globally, it encounters challenges such as performance limitations, cost, and practical security concerns. Nonetheless, innovations in satellite-based QKD and the development of new protocols are paving the way towards a worldwide network. In this review, we provide an overview of QKD implementations, with a focus on protocols, devices, and quantum channels. We discuss the challenges of practical QKD and explore long-haul QKD. Additionally, we highlight the future research directions that are expected to significantly advance the realization of a global QKD network. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics) Cite as: arXiv:2511.10982 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2511.10982v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2511.10982 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Related DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-025-00238-7 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Haoran Zhang [view email] [v1] Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:04:48 UTC (1,660 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Towards Global Quantum Key Distribution, by Haoran Zhang and 5 other authorsView PDF view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2025-11 Change to browse by: physics physics.optics References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)