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arXiv:2004.07157 · Science

Massively parallel ultrafast random bit generation with a chip-scale laser

Kyungduk Kim, Stefan Bittner, Yongquan Zeng, Stefano Guazzotti, Ortwin G. Hess, Qi Jie Wang, Hui W. Cao

Published Feb 25, 2021• 128 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Random numbers are widely used for information security, cryptography, stochastic modeling, and quantum simulations. Key technical challenges for physical random number generation are speed and scalability. We demonstrate a method for ultrafast generation of hundreds of random bit streams in parallel with a single laser diode. Spatiotemporal interference of many lasing modes in a specially designed cavity is introduced as a scheme for greatly accelerated random bit generation. Spontaneous emission, caused by quantum fluctuations, produces stochastic noise that makes the bit streams unpredictable. We achieve a total bit rate of 250 terabits per second with off-line postprocessing, which is more than two orders of magnitude higher than the current postprocessing record. Our approach is robust, compact, and energy-efficient, with potential applications in secure communication and high-performance computation.

DOI
10.1126/science.abc2666

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Random numbers are widely used for information security, cryptography, stochastic modeling, and quantum simulations. Key technical challenges for physical random number generation are speed and scalability. We demonstrate a method for ultrafast generation of hundreds of random bit streams in parallel with a single laser diode. Spatiotemporal interference of many lasing modes in a specially designed cavity is introduced as a scheme for greatly accelerated random bit generation. Spontaneous emission, caused by quantum fluctuations, produces stochastic noise that makes the bit streams unpredictable. We achieve a total bit rate of 250 terabits per second with off-line postprocessing, which is more than two orders of magnitude higher than the current postprocessing record. Our approach is robust, compact, and energy-efficient, with potential applications in secure communication and high-performance computation.
We design and fabricate a stable cavity for a highly multimode semiconductor laser. After suppressing the lasing instabilities, we utilize the spatio-temporal interference of numerous lasing modes to create ultrafast random intensity fluctuation in space and time. By spatial multiplexing of the laser emission, we produce 127 statistically independent parallel bit streams from a chip-scale laser. The total bit rate reaches 250 Terabit/s, two orders-of-magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art. The unpredictability and non-reproducibility of random bits are guaranteed by spontaneous emission noise originating from quantum fluctuations. Our scheme is robust, compact, and energy-efficient with applications in cybersecurity and stochastic modeling.
Random bit generators are critical for information security, cryptography, stochastic modeling, and simulations. Speed and scalability are key challenges faced by current physical random bit generation. Herein, we propose a massively parallel scheme for ultrafast random bit generation towards rates of order 100 terabit per second based on a single micro-ring resonator. A modulation-instability-driven chaotic comb in a micro-ring resonator enables the simultaneous generation of hundreds of independent and unbiased random bit streams. A proof-of-concept experiment demonstrates that using our method, random bit streams beyond 2 terabit per second can be successfully generated with only 7 comb lines. This bit rate can be easily enhanced by further increasing the number of comb lines used. Our approach provides a chip-scale solution to random bit generation for secure communication and high-performance computation, and offers superhigh speed and large scalability.
Optoelectronics The security of our digital networks is underpinned by the ability to generate streams of random numbers or bits. As networks expand in an ever-connected way, the challenge is to increase the generation rate of the random numbers to keep pace with demand. Kim et al. designed a chip-scale laser diode that generates random bits at an ultrahigh rate (see the Perspective by Fischer and Gauthier). By tailoring the geometry of the cavity, they were able to exploit the spatiotemporal interference of many lasing modes to generate picosecond-scale emission intensity fluctuations in space and time, producing ultrafast random bit streams in parallel. Such a device will find a wide range of applications requiring an ultrafast, compact, robust, and energy-efficient random bit generator. Science , this issue p. [948][1]; see also p. [889][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abc2666 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abg5445