title: Experimental measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with uncharacterized encoding.
abstract: Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) is an efficient way to share secrets using untrusted measurement devices. However, the assumption on the characterizations of encoding states is still necessary in this promising protocol, which may lead to unnecessary complexity and potential loopholes in realistic implementations. Here, by using the mismatched-basis statistics, we present the first proof-of-principle experiment of MDI QKD with uncharacterized encoding sources. In this demonstration, the encoded states are only required to be constrained in a two-dimensional Hilbert space, and two distant parties (Alice and Bob) are resistant to state preparation flaws even if they have no idea about the detailed information of their encoding states. The positive final secure key rates of our system exhibit the feasibility of this novel protocol, and demonstrate its value for the application of secure communication with uncharacterized devices.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhen-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chun-Mei
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yu-Yang
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Guang-Can
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Zheng-Fu
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Han