Optical ultrafast random number generation at 1 Tb/s using a turbulent semiconductor ring cavity laser

A simple method of high-speed random bit generation is presented that utilizes the turbulent output of a fiber ring cavity semiconductor laser. Random bits are generated by multi-bit sampling of the chaotic optical waveform passed through a simple post-processing procedure, leading to generation rates up to and potentially exceeding 1 Tb/s. The resulting random bit streams are tested statistically using a software package designed to test random number generators, the NIST statistical test suite. The bit streams pass each of these test sets, indicating their suitability for use in random number generation applications. This novel technique allows the generation of random bits from less complex experimental conditions than previously reported, while improving upon recent previous studies in terms of bit rate and quality of bits. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America