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Real-Time Polarization Control for Satellite QKD with Liquid-Crystal Beacon Stabilization
Ondrej Klicnik, Alessandro Zannotti, Yannick Folwill, Oliver de Vries, Petr Munster, Tomas Horvath·December 12, 2025
Quantum Physics
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Abstract
Polarization instability is a critical challenge for polarization-entangled satellite quantum key distribution (QKD), where atmospheric effects and platform motion continuously distort photon polarization. To maintain entanglement fidelity, these transformations must be precisely identified and compensated before detection. The channel-induced polarization rotation of a classical reference signal (beacon) is characterized using liquidcrystal variable retarders as a compact and fast polarizationcompensation approach, enabling real-time polarization tracking for satellite QKD links.