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Optics Letters

Compact quantum random number generation using a linear optocoupler

Yingying Hu, Yuyang Ding, Shuang Wang, Zhen−Qiang Yin, Wei Chen, De‐Yong He, Wei Huang, Bingjie Xu, Guang‐Can Guo, Zheng‐Fu Han

Published Jun 3, 2021• 17 citations

Abstract

To date, various quantum random number schemes have been demonstrated. However, the cost, size, and final random bit generation rate usually limits their wide application on-shelf. To overcome these limitations, we propose and demonstrate a compact, simple, and low-cost quantum random number generation based on a linear optocoupler. Its integrated structure consists mainly of a light emitting diode and a photodetector. Random bits are generated by directly measuring the intensity noise of the output light, which originates from the random recombination between holes of the p region and electrons of the n region in a light emitting diode. Moreover, our system is robust against fluctuation of the operating environment, and can be extended to a parallel structure, which will be of great significance for the practical and commercial application of quantum random number generation. After post-processing by the SHA-256 algorithm, a random number generation rate of 43 Mbps is obtained. Finally, the final random bit sequences have low autocorrelation coefficients with a standard deviation of 3.16 × 10 − 4 and pass the NIST-Statistical Test Suite test.

DOI: 10.1364/ol.430043

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