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Nanosystems Physics Chemistry Mathematics

Quantum random number generator using vacuum fluctuations

B. E. Pervushin, M.A. Fadeev, A.V. Zinovev, R. Goncharov, A. A. Santev, A. E. Ivanova, E.O. Samsonov

Published Apr 29, 2021• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Experimental implementation of a quantum random number generator based on vacuum fluctuation is presented in this paper.A Y-splitter is used in optical setup of the quantum random number generator.The generation of random numbers in real time with a speed of 300 Mb/s is demonstrated.The conditional minimum entropy is used to estimate the randomness.A cryptographic hashing function is used for post-processing.The resulting sequence has passed DieHard and NIST statistical tests successfully.

DOI
10.17586/2220-8054-2021-12-2-156-160

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Experimental implementation of a quantum random number generator based on vacuum fluctuation is presented in this paper.A Y-splitter is used in optical setup of the quantum random number generator.The generation of random numbers in real time with a speed of 300 Mb/s is demonstrated.The conditional minimum entropy is used to estimate the randomness.A cryptographic hashing function is used for post-processing.The resulting sequence has passed DieHard and NIST statistical tests successfully.
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Unpredictable random number (RN) generation is an essential technology for cryptographic applications. Quantum RN generators (QRNGs) have attracted significant attention owing to their generation of RNs utilizing the randomness guaranteed by quantum mechanics. Vacuum fluctuations are a promising entropy source of quantum randomness. These are detected using a homodyne setup with a laser source and a beam splitter. QRNGs based on vacuum fluctuations can generate RNs at a high-speed and in a stable manner. This paper reports a high-speed spatially multiplexed QRNG based on vacuum fluctuations using a single semiconductor laser diode and an integrated optical beam splitter. The QRNG obtained four independent vacuum fluctuations across a wide bandwidth of over 2 GHz. The RNs were extracted in parallel using a field-programmable gate array with analog-to-digital converters. An aggregated real-time RN generation rate of 4×12.5 Gbit/s was achieved. The generated RNs passed a randomness test based on NIST SP800-90B.
Quantum random number generators represent one of the most promising techniques for producing truly and unique random numbers, essential in many applications such as quantum communication and cryptography protocols. In this work, we report an experimental implementation of vacuum-based quantum random number generator. By measuring the quantum fluctuations of the radiation ground state, a mixture of a perfectly Gaussian distributed random signal—originating from the intrinsic randomness in the quantum measurement— and an undesired classical electronic noise is obtained. Using an adequate post-processing, the undesired classical contribution of the electronic noise is removed to produce final, quasi-uniformly distributed random bit sequences. The high-quality character of the generated random bits is confirmed by applying the statistical tests of the NIST SP 800-22 test battery.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) are currently in high demand across a large number of cryptographic applications as secure sources of true randomness. In this work, we characterize the conditions from which randomness can be extracted in a QRNG based on homodyne measurements of vacuum fluctuations by assessing the impact of experimental limitations, such as the digitizer resolution or the presence of excess local oscillator (LO) noise due to an unbalanced detection. Moreover, we propose an estimation method to quantify the excess entropy contribution introduced by an unbalanced detection and analyze the implementation of the post-processing algorithm. Finally, we submitted the generated numbers to a set of statistical tests to assess the quality of its output randomness and verified that it passes the standard libraries.
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We demonstrate a 6 Gbps real-time optical quantum random number generator by measuring vacuum fluctuation. To address the common problem that speed gap exists between fast randomness generation and slow randomness extraction in most high-speed real-time quantum random number generator systems, we present an optimized extraction algorithm based on parallel implementation of Toeplitz hashing to reduce the influence of classical noise due to the imperfection of devices. Notably, the real-time rate of randomness extraction we have achieved reaches the highest speed of 12 Gbps by occupying less computing resources, and the algorithm has the ability to support hundreds of Gbps randomness extraction. By assuming that the eavesdropper with complete knowledge of the classical noise, our generator has a randomness generation speed of 6.83 Gbps and this supports the generation of 6 Gbps information-theoretically provable quantum random numbers, which are output in real-time through peripheral component interconnect express interface.