Abstract

In this Letter, we propose a physically enhanced ghost encoding scheme that is realized by exploring optical channel characteristics, i.e., physically and dynamically generated scaling factors. It is found that scaling factors can be physically and dynamically generated to serve as security keys in a ghost encoding scheme, dramatically enlarging the key space and enhancing the security of optical ghost encoding schemes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that dynamic scaling factors have been controlled in the optical path to realize physically enhanced ghost encoding. In addition to the illumination patterns used in optical ghost encoding schemes, the proposed method applies a variable beam attenuator and an amplitude-only spatial light modulator (SLM) to physically generate dynamic scaling factors as keys. Nonlinear variation of scaling factors is achieved in different free-space wave-propagation environments in the proposed method. A series of optical experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed physically enhanced ghost encoding scheme. The proposed method could open up new research perspectives in optical ghost encoding.

© 2022 Optica Publishing Group

Physically-secured high-fidelity free-space optical data transmission through scattering media using dynamic scaling factors

Yin Xiao, Lina Zhou, Zilan Pan, Yonggui Cao, and Wen Chen
Opt. Express 30(5) 8186-8198 (2022)

High-resolution ghost imaging through complex scattering media via a temporal correction

Yin Xiao, Lina Zhou, and Wen Chen
Opt. Lett. 47(15) 3692-3695 (2022)

Learning-based correction with Gaussian constraints for ghost imaging through dynamic scattering media

Yang Peng and Wen Chen
Opt. Lett. 48(17) 4480-4483 (2023)

Security enhancement of a W-band millimeter-wave signal based on 3D Hilbert scrambling and diffusion

Zhiyi Wang, Yaoqiang Xiao, Bingshuai Wang, Sitao Wang, and Jing He
Opt. Lett. 47(20) 5325-5328 (2022)

Photoacoustic computational ghost imaging

Paul R. Torke, Robert Nuster, and Guenther Paltauf
Opt. Lett. 47(6) 1462-1465 (2022)