Private correlated random bit generation based on synchronized wideband physical entropy sources with hybrid electro-optic nonlinear transformation

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel, to the best of our knowledge, private correlated random bit generation (CRBG) scheme based on commonly driven induced synchronization of two wideband physical entropy sources, which employs an open-loop distributed feedback laser followed by a hybrid electro-optic nonlinear transformation hardware module for effective bandwidth expansion and privacy enhancement. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer followed by an electro-optic self-feedback phase modulation loop as well as a dispersion element are constructed as a private hardware module to perform post-processing and nonlinear transformation of the synchronized signal. A record high rate of 5.2-Gb/s CRBG is successfully achieved between two synchronized wideband physical entropy sources with an enhanced entropy source rate and hardware key space. The demonstrated scheme may provide a new way for CRBG in future high speed secure communication systems. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group