A short external cavity semiconductor laser cryptosystem

Semiconductor lasers with delayed optical feedback are well-suited for controlled generation of high-dimensional broad-band chaotic emission dynamics. Such dynamics qualify for application as carriers in modern chaos cryptosystems. We analyze the dynamics in dependence on relevant system parameters and find excellent carrier properties for systems operating in the short cavity regime (SCR). We are able to synchronize a solitary receiver laser to such a transmitter and find good Chaos-Pass-Filter properties revealing the high potential of the SCR-dynamics for chaos cryptosystems. We highlight this by demonstrating the successful encrypted transmission of a digital message. To cite this article: M. Peil et al., C. R. Physique 5 (2004).