Demonstration of quantum random number generation using nitrogen vacancy centres

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a quantum random number generator using nitrogen vacancy centres in nanodiamonds, achieving high rates and passing standard randomness tests, with potential for on-chip applications.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental demonstration of QRNG from NV centres with significantly improved rates and theoretical validation of randomness quality.

Findings

Generation rates up to 4.77 Mbits/s with ~50 NV centres

Generated bits passed ENT and NIST tests without post-processing

Min-entropy close to the ideal value of one per bit

Abstract

Quantum random number generation (QRNG) relies on the inherent unpredictability of quantum mechanical phenomena to efficiently generate high-quality random numbers that can be used in a wide range of cryptography and simulation applications. Here we report the experimental demonstration of QRNG from the arrival times of photons emitted by nitrogen vacancy (NV) centres in fluorescent nanodiamonds. The generation rates achieved range from 0.173 Mbits/s for a region with a single NV centre to 4.77 Mbits/s for a region with just under 50 NV centres, where the latter demonstrates an order of magnitude improvement compared to the highest generation rate previously achieved with NV centres. For all the regions investigated, the generated bits passed the ENT and NIST Statistical Test Suites without post-processing. The results are consistent with our theoretical analysis, where we show that the min-entropy is very close to the ideal value of one per bit for all the regions investigated. This work opens up new possibilities for robust QRNG in highly compact on-chip settings.