Shigeru Yoshimori

Fast random bit generation with bandwidth-enhanced chaos in semiconductor lasers.

We experimentally demonstrate random bit generation using multi-bit samples of bandwidth-enhanced chaos in semiconductor lasers. Chaotic fluctuation of laser output is generated in a semiconductor laser with optical feedback and the chaotic output is injected into a second semiconductor laser to obtain a chaotic intensity signal with bandwidth enhanced up to 16 GHz. The chaotic signal is converted to an 8-bit digital signal by sampling with a digital oscilloscope at 12.5 Giga samples per second (GS/s). Random bits are generated by bitwise exclusive-OR operation on corresponding bits in samples of the chaotic signal and its time-delayed signal. Statistical tests verify the randomness of bit sequences obtained using 1 to 6 bits per sample, corresponding to fast random bit generation rates from 12.5 to 75 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) ( = 6 bit x 12.5 GS/s).

Characteristics of Fast Physical Random Bit Generation Using Chaotic Semiconductor Lasers

We investigate the characteristics of fast random bit generation using chaotic semiconductor lasers. The optical amplitudes of two lasers with chaotic oscillations induced by optical feedback are each sampled at a fixed rate to extract binary bit sequences which are then combined by an exclusive-OR operation to obtain a single random bit sequence. Bit sequences generated at rate of 1 Giga bit per second are verified to pass statistical tests of randomness. We describe the dependence of randomness on laser parameters, in particular the injection current, the external cavity length and the feedback strength. The results provide clear empirical guidelines for tuning the chaotic laser parameters to achieve random bit sequences. This study shows that chaotic laser devices can be fast and reliable sources of physical entropy for computing and communication applications.

Common-chaotic-signal induced synchronization in semiconductor lasers

We experimentally and numerically observe synchronization of two semiconductor lasers commonly driven by a chaotic semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback. Under condition that the relaxation oscillation frequency is matched between the two response lasers, but mismatched between the drive and the two response lasers, we show that it is possible to observe strongly correlated synchronization between the two response lasers even when the correlation between the drive and response lasers is low. We also show that the cross correlation between the two responses is larger than that between drive and responses over a wide parameter region.

Chaotic on-off keying for secure communications

We experimentally demonstrate a chaotic on-off keying method for secure communications by using chaos synchronization in two microchip lasers. The output of the microchip laser in the transmitter is externally modulated with an acousto-optic modulator at ~4 MHz . One encodes a digital message in the chaotic carrier by turning the modulation on and off at 100 kHz. Because the accuracy of synchronization for the slave laser in the receiver tends to be degraded in the presence of external modulation in the injection laser signal, one can distinguish two binary states. The digital message can be recovered as an envelope of the chaotic oscillation when the difference between the two laser outputs of the transmitter and the receiver is calculated.

Chaotic wavelength division multiplexing for optical communication.

We demonstrate wavelength division multiplexing with chaotic subcarriers in two pairs of one-way-coupled Nd:YVO4 microchip lasers. Two individual digital messages are encoded on two chaotic carriers with different wavelengths in two transmitters by the chaotic masking method, and the mixed signals are sent to two receivers. Dual synchronization of chaos is used to obtain the original chaotic waveforms in the receivers. Two messages are decoded by filtering the difference of the laser outputs between the transmitter and the receiver by use of a low-pass filter for each pair of lasers. The message recovery can be achieved more easily when messages with small amplitude and low frequency are used.

Characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback

We numerically investigate the detailed characteristics of chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers subject to polarization-rotated optical feedback. The emission of the dominant TE mode of a drive laser is rotated 90 deg and fed back to the laser with time delay. The polarization-rotated TE mode is also injected with time delay into the TM mode of a second laser. Two types of synchronization with different time-lags are found, as in the case for synchronization in semiconductor lasers with nonrotated optical feedback. However, a significant difference to the nonrotated optical feedback case is that neither of the two types of synchronization requires matching of optical carrier frequency between the two lasers.

Synchronization by injection of common chaotic signal in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

We investigate the dynamics of two semiconductor lasers with separate optical feedback when they are driven by a common signal injected from a chaotic laser under the condition of non-identical drive and response. We experimentally and numerically show conditions under which the outputs of the two lasers can be highly correlated with each other even though the correlation with the drive signal is low. In particular, the effects of the phase of the feedback light on the correlation characteristics are described. The maximum correlation between the two response lasers is obtained when the phase of the feedback light is matched between the two response lasers, while the minimum correlation is observed when the difference in the optical phase is pi. On the other hand, the correlation between the drive and response is not sensitive to the phase of the feedback light, unlike the previously studied case of identical drive and response. We numerically examine the difference between the maximum and minimum cross correlations over a wide range of parameters, and show that it is largest when there is a balance between the injection strength and the feedback strength.

Synchronization of chaos in two microchip lasers by using incoherent feedback method

Abstract We numerically demonstrated a new chaos-synchronization scheme using incoherent feedback to the pumping power of two microchip lasers. The feedback control is applied to the pumping power of the slave laser by using a difference signal between the peak heights of electrical fields of two lasers. Synchronization of chaos is achieved under certain values of the gain parameters. This synchronization is required for matching the laser parameters because the dynamics of population inversion need to be matched between the two lasers by controlling the pumping power.

Dual synchronization of chaos in microchip lasers

We have achieved dual synchronization of chaos in two pairs of one-way coupled Nd:YVO4 microchip lasers, using only one transmission channel, by experiment and numerical calculation. We observed the individual synchronization of chaos in each pair of two lasers by adjusting the optical frequencies for injection locking between the corresponding pairs. The achievement of dual synchronization is dependent on the injection-locking condition, which is different from the locking condition for a single pair of lasers because of the presence of an additional injection signal from the master laser of the other pair.

Blind source separation of chaotic laser signals by independent component analysis

We experimentally demonstrate blind source separation of chaos generated in Nd:YVO(4) microchip solid-state lasers by using independent component analysis. Two chaotic source signals are linearly mixed with randomly selected mixing ratio and independent component analysis is applied for the mixed signals to extract the source signals. We investigate blind source separation of many chaotic laser signals and succeed 100-signal separation of chaotic temporal waveforms. Longer temporal waveforms are required with increase of the number of mixed signals.