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Quantum key distribution is a promising alternative to information encoding whose strength lies in the possibility of generating an unconditionally secure symmetric key used to encript and decript messages. My research consists on the characterization of different photon sources in a quantum key distribution system focusing on the impact of their performance on the system and on the analysis of drawbacks. Therefore new alternatives to overcome possible limitations can be found as well as improving the parameters that are currently hindering the diffusion of quantum key distribution. Particular attention is paid to the sources of entangled photon pairs and the advantages they can offer compared to classical attenuated lasers. The detection of the heralded photon on one side in fact guarantees the transmission of the other photon in a precise time interval on the quantum channel. The temporal knowledge of the qu-bit exchange becomes no longer a probabilistic but a deterministic information. This information can be then used to improve the performance both at physical level,  decreasing noise, dark counts and cross-talk, and at higher level, implementing error correction algorithms that exploit this advantage to become more efficient.