Ultrafast quantum random number generation based on quantum phase fluctuations

Abstract

A quantum random number generator (QRNG) can generate true randomness by exploiting the fundamental indeterminism of quantum mechanics. Most approaches to QRNG employ single-photon detection technologies and are limited in speed. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an ultrafast QRNG at a rate over 6 Gbits/s based on the quantum phase fluctuations of a laser operating near threshold. Moreover, we consider a potential adversary who has partial knowledge on the raw data and discuss how one can rigorously remove such partial knowledge with postprocessing. We quantify the quantum randomness through min-entropy by modeling our system and employ two randomness extractors - Trevisan's extractor and Toeplitz-hashing - to distill the randomness, which is information- theoretically provable. The simplicity and high-speed of our experimental setup show the feasibility of a robust, low-cost, high-speed QRNG. © 2012 Optical Society of America.