Random number generation from a self-chaotic broad-area VCSEL.

Area of Science:

• Laser physics
• Nonlinear dynamics
• Information theory

Background:

• Broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (BA-VCSELs) exhibit complex nonlinear dynamics.
• Chaos generation in lasers typically requires external perturbations like optical feedback or injection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the intrinsic chaotic dynamics of BA-VCSELs for high-speed random number generation (RNG).
• To assess the performance of BA-VCSEL-based RNG in terms of bit rate, statistical randomness, and robustness.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of nonlinear dynamics of transverse and polarization modes in BA-VCSELs.
• Leveraging intrinsic chaos for entropy generation and random number generation (RNG).
• Performance evaluation using NIST statistical test suites.

Main Results:

• BA-VCSELs exhibit intrinsic chaos with high correlation dimension and large bandwidth without external perturbations.
• Achieved high bit-rate entropy generation and RNG, passing NIST tests at rates up to 150 Gb/s.
• Observed a correlation between correlation dimension and the number of passed NIST tests; consistent RNG performance across parameters.

Conclusions:

• Intrinsic chaos in BA-VCSELs provides a simple, compact, and robust platform for high-performance RNG.
• The system eliminates the need for complex optical feedback or injection mechanisms.
• Demonstrated potential for practical applications requiring high-quality random number generation.