Secure communication based on sensing of undetected photons

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce a secure optical communication protocol that harnesses quantum correlation within entangled photon pairs. A message written by acting on one of the photons can be read by exclusive measurements of the other photon of the pair. In this scheme a bright, meaningless optical beam hides the message rendering it inaccessible to potential eavesdroppers. Unlike traditional methods our approach only affects unauthorized users, fundamentally limiting their access to the communication channel. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our protocol by achieving secure communication through both amplitude and phase modulation. We successfully employ this technique for the secure transfer of an image. We demonstrate data exchange speed of up to 8 bits per second, along with the corresponding eye diagrams.