Quantum-randomized polarization of laser pulses derived from zero-point diamond motion

Douglas Little, Ondrej Kitzler, Seyed Abedi, Akael Alias, Alexei Gilchrist, Richard Mildren

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Intrinsic randomness in quantum systems is a vital resource for cryptography and other quantum information protocols. To date, randomizing macroscopic polarization states requires randomness from an external source, which is then used to modulate the polarization e.g. for quantum key-distribution protocols. Here, we present a Raman-based device for directly generating laser pulses with quantum-randomized polarizations. We show that crystals of diamond lattice symmetry provide a unique operating point for which the Raman gain is isotropic, so that the spontaneous symmetry breaking initiated by the quantum-random zero-point motion determines the output polarization. Experimentally measured polarizations are demonstrated to be consistent with an independent and identical uniform distribution with an estimated quantum entropy rate of 3.8 bits/pulse.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)894-902
Number of pages9
JournalOptics Express
Volume29
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Jan 2021

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