Experimental Phase-Matching Quantum Cryptographic Conferencing in Symmetric and Asymmetric Fiber Channels

Mi Zou; Bin-Chen Li; Shuai Zhao; Yingqiu Mao; Dandan Qin; Xiao Jiang; Teng-Yun Chen; Jian-Wei Pan

doi:10.1103/mlgs-g354

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Experimental Phase-Matching Quantum Cryptographic Conferencing in Symmetric and Asymmetric Fiber Channels

Mi Zou ¹, Bin-Chen Li^1,2,3, Shuai Zhao^4,5, Yingqiu Mao ^2,6, Dandan Qin^1,2,3, Xiao Jiang^1,2,3, Teng-Yun Chen ^1,2,3,*, and Jian-Wei Pan^1,2,3,†

¹Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
²Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
³CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
⁴School of Cyberspace, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
⁵Pinghu Digital Technology Innovation Research Institute, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Pinghu 314200, China
⁶Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Science and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai 201315, China

^*Contact author: tychen@ustc.edu.cn
^†Contact author: pan@ustc.edu.cn

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 020801 – Published 12 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mlgs-g354

Abstract

Quantum cryptographic conferencing (QCC) allows multiple parties to establish common secure keys in quantum networks with information-theoretic security. However, the secure transmission distances of current QCC implementations are still limited to the metropolitan areas. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the three-intensity phase-matching (PM) QCC protocol considering finite-size effects by employing frequency-locking and phase-tracking techniques for three parties. The key distribution capability of the PM QCC protocol is demonstrated in the symmetric fiber channels with the distance from each party to the measurement site up to 100 km. The network adaptability of the PM QCC protocol is demonstrated in asymmetric fiber channels used to simulate fiber channel configurations in real networks. Thus, the feasibility of applying the PM QCC protocol to practical intercity quantum networks with both symmetric and asymmetric channels is verified.

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Experimental Phase-Matching Quantum Cryptographic Conferencing in Symmetric and Asymmetric Fiber Channels

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