Photon arrival time quantum random number generation
Michael A. Wayne, Evan R. Jeffrey, Gleb M. Akselrod, Paul G. Kwiat · Journal of Modern Optics · 2009
We present an efficient random number generator based on the randomness present in photon emission and detection. The interval between successive photons from a light source with Poissonian statistics is separated into individual time bins, which are then used to create several random bits per detection event. Using a single-photon counter and FPGA-based data processing allows for a cost-efficient and convenient implementation that outputs data at rates of roughly 40 Mbit s−1.