Security enhancement of double-random phase encryption by amplitude modulation

Conventional double-random phase encoding is vulnerable to a chosen or known plaintext attack owing to the linearity of the system. We introduce a technique to break down this linearity with an undercover amplitude modulation in the encryption scheme. As an additional key, this operation can significantly enhance the security of the system. A series of computer simulations have shown the effectiveness of this method and its resistance against the known plaintext attack. The design and parameter choice of the amplitude modulator is also discussed. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.