Quantum key distribution with phase-encoded coherent states: Asymptotic security analysis in thermal-loss channels

We consider discrete-alphabet encoding schemes for coherent-state quantum key distribution. The sender encodes the letters of a finite-size alphabet into coherent states whose amplitudes are symmetrically distributed on a circle centered in the origin of the phase space. We study the asymptotic performance of this phase-encoded coherent-state protocol in direct and reverse reconciliation assuming both loss and thermal noise in the communication channel. In particular, we show that using just four phase-shifted coherent states is sufficient for generating secret key rates of the order of $4 times 10^{-3}$ bits per channel use at about 15 dB loss in the presence of realistic excess noise.