Security proofs of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems usually assume that the users have access to source of perfect randomness. State-of-the-art QKD systems run at frequencies in the GHz range, requiring a sustained GHz rate of generation and acquisition of quantum random numbers. In this paper we demonstrate such a high speed random number generator. The entropy source is based on amplified spontaneous emission from an erbium-doped fibre, which is directly acquired using a standard small form-factor pluggable (SFP) module. The module connects to the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) of a QKD system. A real-time randomness extractor is implemented in the FPGA and achieves a sustained rate of 1.25 Gbps of provably random bits.
@article{arxiv.1504.07769,
title = {Quantum random number generation for 1.25 GHz quantum key distribution systems},
author = {A. Martin and B. Sanguinetti and C. C. W. Lim and R. Houlmann and H. Zbinden},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1504.07769},
year = {2015}
}