Quantum communications: An engineering approach

In this paper, we review our recent advances in the implementation of quantum communication systems. We start by discussing two types of optical quantum sources. A source based on a fainted semiconductor laser and another based on the four-wave mixing process. Afterwards, we discuss information encoding techniques in quantum states suitable to be used in fibre-optic quantum communication systems. Next, we present a non-intrusive technique to control random polarization rotations in polarization-encoded quantum communication systems. Finally, we discuss a quantum oblivious transfer protocol implementation based on the noisy storage model and on the use of hash functions.