The most common optical amplified spontaneous emission sources can become the ultimate tools for the generation of ultra-broadband truly random bit sequences (TRBS). By using a straightforward configuration we experimentally prove that the amplified spontaneous emission noise of an optical amplifier—either an Er<sup>+3</sup>-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) or an InGaAs semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)—is an efficient source for TRBS generation. A bit rate up to 560 Gb/s has been recorded, seeded by the direct detection of the unfiltered spontaneous-spontaneous (<i>sp-sp</i>) optical intensity beat noise on a broadband photoreceiver. The generation rate is practically limited only by the detection bandwidth, the electronic digitization process and the post-processing circuitry. The proposed mechanism passes the existing benchmarks of randomness.
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