Quantum random number generation with down converted photon pairs

Random numbers play a significant role in fields like scientific simulations and cryptography. Here we describe a physical random number generator based on the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanics. We design a simple method to produce and analyze random sequences starting with a source of correlated/entangled photon pairs as an entropy source. We generate random bits from the coincidence rates of photon pairs in 3 steps: (i) generate correlated/entangled photon pairs, (ii) convert the coincidence rates from decimal to binary, (iii) apply a randomness extraction procedure (post-processing). In this approach, we have tested the influence of entanglement on the entire generation process. In order to obtain a good-quality random sequance, we have used and compared two different extractors in the post-processing step.