Random number generation with a chaotic electromechanical resonator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a nanomechanical oscillator can be used to generate true random numbers by exploiting chaos, with potential applications in cryptography and future nano-electro-mechanical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel platform combining a nanomechanical oscillator with capacitive actuation to produce chaotic dynamics for random number generation.

Findings

Chaotic behavior observed in the nanomechanical system.

Binary sequences generated from chaos show randomness.

System parameters critical for successful RNG identified.

Abstract

Chaos enables the emergence of randomness in deterministic physical systems. Therefore it can be exploited for the conception of true random number generators (RNG) mandatory in classical cryptography applications. Meanwhile, nanomechanical oscillators, at the core of many on-board functionalities such as sensing, reveal as excellent candidates to behave chaotically. This is made possible thanks to intrinsic mechanical nonlinearities emerging at the nanoscale. Here we present a platform gathering a nanomechanical oscillator and its integrated capacitive actuation. Using a modulation of the resonant force induced by the electrodes, we demonstrate chaotic dynamics and study how it depends on the dissipation of the system. The randomness of a binary sequence generated from a chaotic time trace is evaluated and discussed such that the generic parameters enabling successful random number generation can be established. This demonstration makes use of concepts which are sufficiently general to be applied to the next generation of nano-electro-optomechanical systems.