Secure key generation using an ultra-long fiber laser: transient analysis and experiment
Abstract
The secure distribution of a secret key is the weakest point of shared-key encryption protocols. While quantum key distribution schemes could theoretically provide unconditional security, their practical implementation remains technologically challenging. Here we provide an extended analysis and present an experimental support of a concept for a classical key generation system, based on establishing laser oscillation between two parties, which is realized using standard fiber-optic components. In our Ultra-long Fiber Laser (UFL) system, each user places a randomly chosen, spectrally selective mirror at his/her end of a fiber laser, with the two-mirror choice representing a key bit. We demonstrate the ability of each user to extract the mirror choice of the other using a simple analysis of the UFL signal, while an adversary can only reconstruct a small fraction of the key. The simplicity of this system renders it a promising alternative for practical key distribution in the optical domain.
Additional Information
© 2008 Optical Society of America. Received 15 August 2008; revised 15 September 2008; accepted 1 October 2008; published 3 October 2008. The authors thank Dr. Stephanie Wehner of the California Institute of Technology for her advice in the area of cryptography. A.Z. acknowledges the support of a post-doctoral research fellowship from the Center of Physics in Information (CPI), California Institute of Technology, and the Rothschild post-doctoral research fellowship from Yad-Hanadiv foundation, Jerusalem, Israel. J. Sch. acknowledges the support of the Advanced Communications Center, Tel-Aviv University, and the Horowitz Foundation.Attached Files
Published - ZADoe08.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 12336
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:ZADoe08
- Created
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2008-11-12Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2019-10-03Created from EPrint's last_modified field