Visual cryptography based on an interferometric encryption technique

This paper presents a new method for a visual cryptography scheme that uses phase masks and an interferometer. To encrypt a binary image, we divided it into an arbitrary number of slides and encrypted them. using an XOR process with a random key or keys. The phase mask for each encrypted image was fabricated under the proposed phase-assignment rule. For decryption, phase masks were placed on any path of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Through optical experiments, we confirmed that a secret binary image that was sliced could be recovered by the proposed method.