High-speed quantum random number generation for secure data communications

Random numbers are essential for creating the cryptographic keys that ensure our personal information is secure online. Generating truly random numbers in software alone is impossible, since computers use a completely predictable algorithm for this purpose. Only hardware random number generators can produce true random numbers, and even these are limited by aging effects in classical noise sources. To be truly random one needs a quantum random number generator (RNG), and such devices will be integral to the future of cryptography, forming the basis of secure communications and data processing. Due to their respective technological approaches the clock speeds of commercially available quantum RNGs are limited to few-hundred Mbit/s data streams, a bottleneck that is incompatible with future telecommunications demands. In this project we will demonstrate a route to 100s-of-Gb/s quantum RNG based on novel laser technology. Excitingly, our proposed approach is highly scalable, enabling the performance provided by the system to keep pace with the demand for high-bit-rate random numbers continues to increase.