  We report room temperature operation of telecom wavelength single-photon
detectors for high bit rate quantum key distribution (QKD). Room temperature
operation is achieved using InGaAs avalanche photodiodes integrated with
electronics based on the self-differencing technique that increases avalanche
discrimination sensitivity. Despite using room temperature detectors, we
demonstrate QKD with record secure bit rates over a range of fiber lengths
(e.g. 1.26 Mbit/s over 50 km). Furthermore, our results indicate that operating
the detectors at room temperature increases the secure bit rate for short
distances.
