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Optics Express

Silicon-based quantum random number generator with untrusted sources and uncharacterized measurements

Zhengeng Zhao, Xin Hua, Yongqiang Du, Chenyu Xu, Feng Xie, Zhenrong Zhang, Xi Xiao, Kejin Wei

Published Aug 16, 2024• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Random numbers are essential resources in science and engineering, with indispensable applications in simulation, cybersecurity, and finance. Quantum random number generators (QRNGs), based on the principles of quantum mechanics, ensure genuine randomness and unpredictability. Silicon photonics enables the large-scale deployment of integrated QRNGs due to its low cost, miniaturization, and compatibility with CMOS technology. However, current integrated QRNGs are typically based on perfect or partially perfect device models, deviating from real-world devices, which compromises the unpredictability of quantum random numbers. In this study, we implemented a silicon-based QRNG that makes no assumptions about the source and only uses trusted but uncharacterized measurement devices. In experimental demonstration, we show that our setup can generate secure random numbers with different choices of intensities of laser light, and achieve an optimized random number generation rate of up to 4.04 Mbps. Our work significantly advances the security, practicality, and commercial development of QRNGs by employing imperfect devices.

DOI
10.1364/oe.530045

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Random numbers are essential resources in science and engineering, with indispensable applications in simulation, cybersecurity, and finance. Quantum random number generators (QRNGs), based on the principles of quantum mechanics, ensure genuine randomness and unpredictability. Silicon photonics enables the large-scale deployment of integrated QRNGs due to its low cost, miniaturization, and compatibility with CMOS technology. However, current integrated QRNGs are typically based on perfect or partially perfect device models, deviating from real-world devices, which compromises the unpredictability of quantum random numbers. In this study, we implemented a silicon-based QRNG that makes no assumptions about the source and only uses trusted but uncharacterized measurement devices. In experimental demonstration, we show that our setup can generate secure random numbers with different choices of intensities of laser light, and achieve an optimized random number generation rate of up to 4.04 Mbps. Our work significantly advances the security, practicality, and commercial development of QRNGs by employing imperfect devices.
Abstract Random numbers play a crucial role in numerous scientific applications. Source-independent quantum random number generators (SI-QRNGs) can offer true randomness by leveraging the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, eliminating the need for a trusted source. Silicon photonics shows great promise for QRNG due to its benefits in miniaturization, cost-effective device manufacturing, and compatibility with CMOS microelectronics. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a silicon-based discrete variable SI-QRNG. Using a well-calibrated chip and an optimized parameter strategy, we have achieved the highest quantum random number generation rate of 7.9 Mbits/s. Our research paves the way for integrated SI-QRNGs.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) promise secure randomness generation based on the foundational unpredictability of quantum mechanics. However, the unavoidable gaps between theoretical models and practical devices could lead to security invalidation. Recently, a source-independent quantum random number generator (SI-QRNG) has been proposed to solve the issue of uncharacteristic sources. However, in most current analyses of SI-QRNG protocols, the security proofs with imperfect measurements are individual for different factors and very sensitive to small deviations from theoretical models. Here, we establish a unified model for imperfect measurements in the SI-QRNG and provide a tight rate bound based on the uncertainty relation for smooth entropies. Then the performance with large device imperfections is evaluated and the randomness rate in our model can approach a similar order of magnitude of the rate upper bound in common discrete variable QRNGs. In addition, by utilizing the daily illumination and measurement devices with large imperfections, we experimentally demonstrate our scheme at the rate of the order of magnitude of Mbps.
Quantum resources offer intrinsic randomness that is valuable for applications such as cryptography, scientific simulation, and computing. Silicon-based photonics chips present an excellent platform for the cost-effective deployment of next-generation quantum systems on a large scale, even at room temperature. Nevertheless, the potential susceptibility of these chips to hacker control poses a challenge in ensuring security for on-chip quantum random number generation, which is crucial for enabling extensive utilization of quantum resources. Here, we introduce and implement an on-chip source-device-independent quantum random number generator (SDI-QRNG). The randomness of this generator is achieved through distortion-free on-chip detection of quantum resources, effectively eliminating classical noise interference. The security of the system is ensured by employing on-chip criteria for estimating security entropy in a practical chip environment. By incorporating a photoelectric package, the SDI-QRNG chip achieves a secure bit rate of 146.2 Mbps and a bare chip rate of 248.47 Gbps, with all extracted secure bits successfully passing the randomness test. Our experimental demonstration of this chip-level SDI-QRNG shows significant advantages in practical applications, paving the way for the widespread and cost-effective implementation of room-temperature secure QRNG, which marks a milestone in the field of QRNG chips.
Abstract A quantum random number generator (QRNG) as a genuine source of randomness is essential in many applications, such as number simulation and cryptography. Recently, a source-independent quantum random number generator (SI-QRNG), which can generate secure random numbers with untrusted sources, has been realized. However, the measurement loopholes of the trusted but imperfect devices used in SI-QRNGs have not yet been fully explored, which will cause security problems, especially in high-speed systems. Here, we point out and evaluate the security loopholes of practical imperfect measurement devices in SI-QRNGs. We also provide corresponding countermeasures to prevent these information leakages by recalculating the conditional minimum entropy and adding a monitor. Furthermore, by taking into account the finite-size effect, we show that the influence of the afterpulse can exceed that of the finite-size effect with the large number of sampled rounds. Our protocol is simple and effective, and it promotes the security of SI-QRNG in practice as well as the compatibility with high-speed measurement devices, thus paving the way for constructing ultrafast and security-certified commercial SI-QRNG systems.
Quantum random number generator (QRNG) allows for the production of truly unpredictable random numbers, thanks to the inherent randomness available in quantum mechanics. However, its practical implementation is facing several challenges, including the practical security loophole, high-speed real-time randomness extraction, and large-scale production. In this work, we address these challenges with a chip-based, source-independent quantum random number generator achieving 20 Gbps real-time generation rate. It ensures the practical security through a source-independent security framework and the modeling of measurement devices. A bandwidth exceeding 2 GHz and a clearance reaching 10 dB is achieved by a silicon-based homodyne detector. Analog-to-digital conversion and randomness extraction are integrated on a single data collection and processing board, where the optimized parallel randomness extraction algorithm on a field programmable gate array achieves a throughput up to 28 Gbps. The results promise a high-speed and practically secure quantum random number generation on a chip, paving the way for its large-scale deployments and widespread applications.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) harness the inherent unpredictability of quantum mechanics to produce true randomness. Yet, in many optical implementations, the light source remains a potential vulnerability—susceptible to deviations from ideal behavior and even adversarial eavesdropping. Source-device-independent (SDI) protocols address this with a pragmatic strategy, by removing trust assumptions on the source, and instead rely on realistic modeling and characterization of the measurement device. In this work, we enhance an existing SDI-QRNG protocol by eliminating the need for a perfectly balanced beam splitter within the trusted measurement device, which is an idealized assumption made for the simplification of security analysis. We demonstrate that certified randomness can still be reliably extracted across a wide range of beam-splitting ratios, significantly improving the protocol’s practicality and robustness. Using only off-the-shelf components, our implementation achieves real-time randomness generation rates of 0.347 Gbps. We also experimentally validate the protocol’s resilience against adversarial attacks and highlight its self-testing capabilities. These advances mark a significant step toward practical, lightweight, high-performance, fully passive, and composably secure QRNGs suitable for real-world deployment.