Open AccessCommon-signal-induced synchronization in photonic integrated circuits and its application to secure key distribution
Author(s) -
Takuma Sasaki,
Izumi Kakesu,
Yusuke Mitsui,
Damien Rontani,
Atsushi Uchida,
Satoshi Sunada,
Kazuyuki Yoshimura,
Masanobu Inubushi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.25.026029
Subject(s) - synchronization (alternating current) , photonic integrated circuit , photonics , electronic circuit , computer science , signal (programming language) , optics , physics , phase (matter) , electronic engineering , telecommunications , channel (broadcasting) , quantum mechanics , programming language , engineering
We experimentally achieve common-signal-induced synchronization in two photonic integrated circuits with short external cavities driven by a constant-amplitude random-phase light. The degree of synchronization can be controlled by changing the optical feedback phase of the two photonic integrated circuits. The change in the optical feedback phase leads to a significant redistribution of the spectral energy of optical and RF spectra, which is a unique characteristic of PICs with the short external cavity. The matching of the RF and optical spectra is necessary to achieve synchronization between the two PICs, and stable synchronization can be obtained over an hour in the presence of optical feedback. We succeed in generating information-theoretic secure keys and achieving the final key generation rate of 184 kb/s using the PICs.