Theoretical design and experimental demonstration of a random number generator based on the random interference of optical signals

We consider the random change of the phase of a laser as the physical source of randomness that allows the implementation a new type of quantum random number generator (QRNG) . We analyze the phase noise model of a laser and study how randomness can be extracted with the help of optical coherent detection. We also demonstrate an ultra-fast QRNG of up to 19 Gbits/s of random numbers that use commercial devices already found in the laboratory.