Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses quantum mechanics to guarantee secure communication. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. It is often incorrectly called quantum cryptography, as it is the most well-known example of the group of quantum cryptographic tasks.
An important and unique property of quantum key distribution is the ability of the two communicating users to detect the presence of any third party trying to gain knowledge of the key. This results from a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics: the process of measuring a quantum system in general disturbs the system. A third party trying to eavesdrop on the key must in some way measure it, thus introducing detectable anomalies. By using quantum superpositions or quantum entanglement and transmitting information in quantum states, a communication system can be implemented that detects eavesdropping. If the level of eavesdropping is below a certain threshold, a key can be produced that is guaranteed to be secure (i.e. the eavesdropper has no information about it), otherwise no secure key is possible and communication is aborted.
The security of encryption that uses quantum key distribution relies on the foundations of quantum mechanics, in contrast to traditional public key cryptography, which relies on the computational difficulty of certain mathematical functions, and cannot provide any indication of eavesdropping at any point in the communication process, or any mathematical proof as to the actual complexity of reversing the one-way functions used. QKD has provable security based on information theory, and forward secrecy.
Quantum key distribution is only used to produce and distribute a key, not to transmit any message data. This key can then be used with any chosen encryption algorithm to encrypt (and decrypt) a message, which can then be transmitted over a standard communication channel. The algorithm most commonly associated with QKD is the one-time pad, as it is provably securewhen used with a secret, random key. In real-world situations, it is often also used with encryption using symmetric key algorithms like the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm. In the case of QKD this comparison is based on the assumption of perfect single-photon sources and detectors, that cannot be easily implemented.
量子密钥分发（英语：quantum key distribution，简称QKD），是利用量子力学特性来保证通信安全性。它使通信的双方能够产生并分享一个随机的、安全的密钥，来加密和解密消息。
量子密钥分发的一个最重要的，也是最独特的性质是：如果有第三方试图窃听密码，则通信的双方便会察觉。这种性质基于量子力学的基本原理：任何对量子系统的测量都会对系统产生干扰。第三方试图窃听密码，必须用某种方式测量它，而这些测量就会带来可察觉的异常。通过量子叠加态或量子纠缠态来传输信息，通信系统便可以检测是否存在窃听。当窃听低于一定标准，一个有安全保障的密钥就可以产生了。
量子密钥分发的安全性基于量子力学的基本原理，而传统密码学是基于某些数学算法的计算复杂度。传统密码学无法察觉窃听，也就无法保证密钥的安全性。
量子密钥分发只用于产生和分发密钥，并没有传输任何实质的消息。密钥可用于某些加密算法来加密消息，加密过的消息可以在标准信道中传输。跟量子密钥分发最常见的相关算法就是一次性密码本，如果使用保密而随机的密钥，这种算法是具可证明的安全性。再实际的运用上，量子密钥分发常常被拿来与对称密钥加密的加密方式，像是高级加密标准这类算法一同使用。也有量子密钥分发的案例，使在完美单一光子来源和侦测器的假设之下所做的比较，这并不容易实现.
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