Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1610.06300 · Quantum Science and Technology

Quantum random number generation using an on-chip plasmonic beamsplitter

Jason Francis, Xia Zhang, Şahin K Özdemir, Mark Tame

Published Jul 28, 2017• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We report an experimental realisation of a quantum random number generator using a plasmonic beamsplitter. Free-space single photons are converted into propagating single surface plasmon polaritons on a gold stripe waveguide via a grating. The surface plasmons are then guided to a region where they are scattered into one of two possible outputs. The presence of a plasmonic excitation in a given output determines the value of a random bit generated from the quantum scattering process. Using a stream of single surface plasmons injected into the beamsplitter we achieve a quantum random number generation rate of 2.37 Mbits s −1 even in the presence of loss. We characterise the quality of the random number sequence generated, finding it to be comparable to sequences from other quantum photonic-based devices. The compact nature of our nanophotonic device makes it suitable for tight integration in on-chip applications, such as in quantum computing and communication schemes.

DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/aa7d42

Related papers

Characterisation and quantum application of plasmonic waveguides.

Jason Francis

Plasmonics offers sub-diffraction confinement of light, which affords enhanced coupling to emitter systems (e.g.quantum dots).This feature makes possible a range of on-chip quantum photonic components -most notably single-photon sources and switches.This potential use of plasmonics, along with the nonlinearity provided by emitter systems, opens up quantum plasmonics as a viable route to realising quantum information processing.In this setting, the excitation of single surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on waveguides via single photons and the confirmation of single-photon states upon output is an important goal.In the work reported here, plasmonic waveguides were experimentally probed with single photons.A measurement of the secondorder quantum coherence function yielded a value of g (2) (0) = 0.160 ± 0.002.A value less than 0.5 is indicative of single-excitation states.Furthermore, to confirm successful SPP excitation, the transverse-magnetic mode restriction and exponential decay of SPPs were verified.Having firmly established the ability to probe plasmonic waveguides in the classical and quantum regimes, quantum random number generation was implemented using a plasmonic beam splitter.The random bit sequences produced passed the NIST Statisitical Test Suite once post-processed to correct for a slightly asymmetric beamsplitter.

•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations

Quantum random number generation using an on-chip nanowire plasmonic waveguide

Conrad Strydom, Sina Soleymani, Şahin Kaya Özdemir +1 more

Abstract Quantum random number generators employ the inherent randomness of quantum mechanics to generate truly unpredictable random numbers, which are essential in cryptographic applications. While a great variety of quantum random number generators have been realized using photonics, few exploit the high-field confinement offered by plasmonics, which enables device footprints an order of magnitude smaller in size. Here we integrate an on-chip nanowire plasmonic waveguide into an optical time-of-arrival based quantum random number generation setup. Despite loss, we achieve a random number generation rate of 14.4 Mbits s − 1 using low light intensity, with the generated bits passing industry standard tests without post-processing. By increasing the light intensity, we were then able to increase the generation rate to 41.4 Mbits s − 1 , with the resulting bits only requiring a shuffle to pass all tests. This is an order of magnitude increase in the generation rate and decrease in the device size compared to previous work. Our experiment demonstrates the successful integration of an on-chip nanoscale plasmonic component into a quantum random number generation setup. This may lead to new opportunities in compact and scalable quantum random number generation.

arXiv:2306.13490•New Journal of Physics•Feb 26, 2024•3 citations

Quantum Statistics of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Metallic Stripe Waveguides

Giuliana Di Martino, Yannick Sonnefraud, Stéphane Kéna‐Cohen +4 more

Heralded single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations, and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second-order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.

arXiv:1204.1487•Nano Letters•Mar 27, 2012•115 citations

Quantum random number generation using a hexagonal boron nitride single photon emitter

Simon White, Friederike Klauck, Toan Trong Tran +8 more

Abstract Quantum random number generation (QRNG) harnesses the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanical phenomena. On-chip photonic circuitry provides a robust and versatile platform that can address and explore fundamental questions in quantum as well as classical physics. Likewise, integrated waveguide-based architectures hold the potential for intrinsically scalable, efficient and compact implementations of photonic QRNG. Here, we harness the quantum emission from the two-dimensional material hexagonal boron nitride an emerging atomically thin medium that can generate single photons on demand while operating at room temperature. By means of a customized splitter arrangement, we achieve true random number generation through the measurement of single photons exiting one of four designated output ports, and subsequently verify the randomness of the sequences in accordance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology benchmark suite. Our results clearly demonstrate the viability and efficiency of this approach to on-chip deterministic random number generators.

arXiv:2001.10625•Journal of Optics•Nov 23, 2020•42 citations

Revisiting quantum optics with surface plasmons

Benjamin Vest, Marie-Christine Dheur, Ilan Shlesinger +5 more

In this experiment, pairs of identical photons at 806 nm through a single-photon down conversion in a nonlinear crystal that are sent onto a plasmonic platform were generated. The plasmonic platform consists in several elements that are etched on a 300 nm-thick gold film on top of a silica substrate, on a total 40x40μm footprint. The input channels of the plasmonic platform are made of two unidirectional launchers. Those asymmetric 11-grooves gratings have been designed to efficiently couple a normally incident Gaussian mode into directional SPPs. The SPPs generated by each launcher then freely propagate and recombine on the surface plasmon beamsplitter (SPBS). It is made of two identical grooves in the metallic surface, oriented at 45° with respect to the propagation direction of waves. The succession of metal and air allows a scattering process that generates both a transmitted and a reflected SPP. The SPPs then propagate towards two large outcoupling strip slits. They are decoupled into photons propagating in the glass substrate on the rear of the platform.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 1, 2017•0 citations

Experimental Verification of Entanglement Generated in a Plasmonic System

Frederik Dieleman, Mark Tame, Yannick Sonnefraud +2 more

A core process in many quantum tasks is the generation of entanglement. It is being actively studied in a variety of physical settings-from simple bipartite systems to complex multipartite systems. In this work we experimentally study the generation of bipartite entanglement in a nanophotonic system. Entanglement is generated via the quantum interference of two surface plasmon polaritons in a beamsplitter structure, i.e., utilizing the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, and its presence is verified using quantum state tomography. The amount of entanglement is quantified by the concurrence and we find values of up to 0.77 ± 0.04. Verifying entanglement in the output state from HOM interference is a nontrivial task and cannot be inferred from the visibility alone. The techniques we use to verify entanglement could be applied to other types of photonic system and therefore may be useful for the characterization of a range of different nanophotonic quantum devices.

arXiv:1705.01962•Nano Letters•Nov 8, 2017•25 citations
Abstract We report an experimental realisation of a quantum random number generator using a plasmonic beamsplitter. Free-space single photons are converted into propagating single surface plasmon polaritons on a gold stripe waveguide via a grating. The surface plasmons are then guided to a region where they are scattered into one of two possible outputs. The presence of a plasmonic excitation in a given output determines the value of a random bit generated from the quantum scattering process. Using a stream of single surface plasmons injected into the beamsplitter we achieve a quantum random number generation rate of 2.37 Mbits s −1 even in the presence of loss. We characterise the quality of the random number sequence generated, finding it to be comparable to sequences from other quantum photonic-based devices. The compact nature of our nanophotonic device makes it suitable for tight integration in on-chip applications, such as in quantum computing and communication schemes.
Plasmonics offers sub-diffraction confinement of light, which affords enhanced coupling to emitter systems (e.g.quantum dots).This feature makes possible a range of on-chip quantum photonic components -most notably single-photon sources and switches.This potential use of plasmonics, along with the nonlinearity provided by emitter systems, opens up quantum plasmonics as a viable route to realising quantum information processing.In this setting, the excitation of single surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on waveguides via single photons and the confirmation of single-photon states upon output is an important goal.In the work reported here, plasmonic waveguides were experimentally probed with single photons.A measurement of the secondorder quantum coherence function yielded a value of g (2) (0) = 0.160 ± 0.002.A value less than 0.5 is indicative of single-excitation states.Furthermore, to confirm successful SPP excitation, the transverse-magnetic mode restriction and exponential decay of SPPs were verified.Having firmly established the ability to probe plasmonic waveguides in the classical and quantum regimes, quantum random number generation was implemented using a plasmonic beam splitter.The random bit sequences produced passed the NIST Statisitical Test Suite once post-processed to correct for a slightly asymmetric beamsplitter.
Abstract Quantum random number generators employ the inherent randomness of quantum mechanics to generate truly unpredictable random numbers, which are essential in cryptographic applications. While a great variety of quantum random number generators have been realized using photonics, few exploit the high-field confinement offered by plasmonics, which enables device footprints an order of magnitude smaller in size. Here we integrate an on-chip nanowire plasmonic waveguide into an optical time-of-arrival based quantum random number generation setup. Despite loss, we achieve a random number generation rate of 14.4 Mbits s − 1 using low light intensity, with the generated bits passing industry standard tests without post-processing. By increasing the light intensity, we were then able to increase the generation rate to 41.4 Mbits s − 1 , with the resulting bits only requiring a shuffle to pass all tests. This is an order of magnitude increase in the generation rate and decrease in the device size compared to previous work. Our experiment demonstrates the successful integration of an on-chip nanoscale plasmonic component into a quantum random number generation setup. This may lead to new opportunities in compact and scalable quantum random number generation.
Heralded single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations, and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second-order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.
Abstract Quantum random number generation (QRNG) harnesses the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanical phenomena. On-chip photonic circuitry provides a robust and versatile platform that can address and explore fundamental questions in quantum as well as classical physics. Likewise, integrated waveguide-based architectures hold the potential for intrinsically scalable, efficient and compact implementations of photonic QRNG. Here, we harness the quantum emission from the two-dimensional material hexagonal boron nitride an emerging atomically thin medium that can generate single photons on demand while operating at room temperature. By means of a customized splitter arrangement, we achieve true random number generation through the measurement of single photons exiting one of four designated output ports, and subsequently verify the randomness of the sequences in accordance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology benchmark suite. Our results clearly demonstrate the viability and efficiency of this approach to on-chip deterministic random number generators.
In this experiment, pairs of identical photons at 806 nm through a single-photon down conversion in a nonlinear crystal that are sent onto a plasmonic platform were generated. The plasmonic platform consists in several elements that are etched on a 300 nm-thick gold film on top of a silica substrate, on a total 40x40μm footprint. The input channels of the plasmonic platform are made of two unidirectional launchers. Those asymmetric 11-grooves gratings have been designed to efficiently couple a normally incident Gaussian mode into directional SPPs. The SPPs generated by each launcher then freely propagate and recombine on the surface plasmon beamsplitter (SPBS). It is made of two identical grooves in the metallic surface, oriented at 45° with respect to the propagation direction of waves. The succession of metal and air allows a scattering process that generates both a transmitted and a reflected SPP. The SPPs then propagate towards two large outcoupling strip slits. They are decoupled into photons propagating in the glass substrate on the rear of the platform.
A core process in many quantum tasks is the generation of entanglement. It is being actively studied in a variety of physical settings-from simple bipartite systems to complex multipartite systems. In this work we experimentally study the generation of bipartite entanglement in a nanophotonic system. Entanglement is generated via the quantum interference of two surface plasmon polaritons in a beamsplitter structure, i.e., utilizing the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, and its presence is verified using quantum state tomography. The amount of entanglement is quantified by the concurrence and we find values of up to 0.77 ± 0.04. Verifying entanglement in the output state from HOM interference is a nontrivial task and cannot be inferred from the visibility alone. The techniques we use to verify entanglement could be applied to other types of photonic system and therefore may be useful for the characterization of a range of different nanophotonic quantum devices.