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Title: Multi-bit quantum random number generation by measuring positions of arrival photons

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4897485· OSTI ID:22305879
 [1];  [2]; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Electronics Information Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031 (China)
  2. State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710119 (China)

We report upon the realization of a novel multi-bit optical quantum random number generator by continuously measuring the arrival positions of photon emitted from a LED using MCP-based WSA photon counting imaging detector. A spatial encoding method is proposed to extract multi-bits random number from the position coordinates of each detected photon. The randomness of bits sequence relies on the intrinsic randomness of the quantum physical processes of photonic emission and subsequent photoelectric conversion. A prototype has been built and the random bit generation rate could reach 8 Mbit/s, with random bit generation efficiency of 16 bits per detected photon. FPGA implementation of Huffman coding is proposed to reduce the bias of raw extracted random bits. The random numbers passed all tests for physical random number generator.

OSTI ID:
22305879
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English