Researchers at NTT have developed a quantum random number generator (QRNG) that exploits the probabilistic nature of quantum measurements to generate genuine random numbers.
The breakthrough could be implemented as a server that repeatedly produces fixed blocks of fresh, certifiable, public random bits. Applications might include communication networks with high security enhanced by quantum technologies.
NTT said previous high-performance QRNGs require fully characterized quantum devices, which could be subject to security loopholes. Although there are QRNGs that are secure with realistic devices, they need to run for a long time to accumulate sufficient randomness. This results in high latency from the initial request to the delivery of the requested random bits. It is desirable for real-world applications to realize QRNGs of low latency, high rate and high security. In this work, by developing an efficient method for certifying randomness (a collaborative work with the researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology) and by measuring the arrival time of an optical pulse with time-bin encoding, NTT was able toshow that every 0.1 seconds a block of 8192 quantum-safe random bits can be generated, enabling low-latency high-rate performance.
