Random bit generation using an optically injected semiconductor laser in chaos with oversampling

Random bit generation is experimentally demonstrated using a semiconductor laser driven into chaos by optical injection. The laser is not subject to any feedback so that the chaotic waveform possesses very little autocorrelation. Random bit generation is achieved at a sampling rate of 10 GHz even when only a fractional bandwidth of 1.5 GHz within a much broader chaotic bandwidth is digitized. By retaining only 3 least significant bits per sample, an output bit rate of 30 Gbps is attained. The approach requires no complicated postprocessing and has no stringent requirement on the electronics bandwidth. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America