title: Single photon quantum cryptography.
abstract: We report the full implementation of a quantum cryptography protocol using a stream of single photon pulses generated by a stable and efficient source operating at room temperature. The single photon pulses are emitted on demand by a single nitrogen-vacancy color center in a diamond nanocrystal. The quantum bit error rate is less that 4.6% and the secure bit rate is 7700 bits/s. The overall performances of our system reaches a domain where single photons have a measurable advantage over an equivalent system based on attenuated light pulses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, UMR 8501 du CNRS, F-91403 Orsay, France. alexios.beveratos@iota.u-psud.fr
authors.forename: Alexios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beveratos
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brouri
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gacoin
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villing
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Poizat
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grangier