21–26 Jun 2026
U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building
America/Toronto timezone
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Ultrahigh-bandwidth quantum random-number generation using bright squeezed vacuum

22 Jun 2026, 16:30
15m
U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building

U. Ottawa - Learning Crossroads (CRX) Building

100 Louis-Pasteur Private, Ottawa, ON K1N 9N3
Oral Competition (Graduate Student) / Compétition orale (Étudiant(e) du 2e ou 3e cycle) Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Canada / Physique atomique, moléculaire et photonique, Canada (DAMOPC-DPAMPC) (DAMOPC) M3-3 | (DPAMPC)

Speaker

Michael Weil (University of Ottawa)

Description

Synopsis We utilize TIPTOE to directly sample the field of femtosecond bright squeezed vacuum. By resolving the bi-phase nature of the carrier wave, we generate random bit sequences. We perform a full temporal-modal analysis which will allow for random bit generation at PHz rates.

In the last decade, all-optical techniques have been introduced as prospects for quantum random number generators (QRNGs) [1,2]. Such techniques rely on the bi-phase output of a degenerate optical parametric oscillator. Unfortunately, the generation rate of such schemes is limited by the cavity decay time [1]. Here, we use a double-pass parametric down-conversion (PDC) scheme and field sampling of bright squeezed vacuum (BSV) to bypass the need of a cavity.

We utilize tunneling ionization with a perturbation for the time-domain observation of an electric field (TIPTOE) [3] to resolve the field of a femtosecond squeezed vacuum beam. We measure changes in two-photon excitation rate in a Si-based CMOS camera induced by the coherent combination of a pump and a BSV field. We perform a full temporal-modal analysis using spectral embedding and find both one-mode and two-mode emission. We extract the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of BSV shots with a single temporal mode, and find that it exhibits the expected bimodal phase distribution, whereby the phase is locked to that of the pump, apart from a sign. We binarize this phase distribution, assigning bit values 0 or 1 (see Fig. 1b).

Finally, we run a variety of NIST-compliant tests to certify our generated bit sequences. By assigning one bit per temporal mode, this scheme will allow for PHz-rate QRNG.

References
[1] Opt. Express 20, 19322-19330 (2012)
[2] Science 381, 205-209 (2023)
[3] Optica 5, 402-408 (2018)

Keyword-1 Ultrafast optics
Keyword-2 Quantum optics

Author

Michael Weil (University of Ottawa)

Co-authors

Dr Andrei Naumov (National Research Council of Canada) Dr David Purschke (University of Rochester) Dr David Villeneuve (National Research Council of Canada) Dr Giulio Vampa (National Research Council of Canada) Dr Jeff Lundeen (University of Ottawa) Dr Katarzyna Kowalczyk (Institut national de la recherche scientifique) Dr Shima Gholam-Mirzaei (National Research Council of Canada) Dr TJ Hammond (University of Windsor)

Presentation materials