Private message transmission by common driving of two chaotic lasers

In this paper, we numerically demonstrate private data transmission using twin semiconductor lasers in which chaotic dynamics and synchronization are achieved by optical injection into the laser pair of a common, chaotic driving-signal, generated by a third laser subject to delayed optical feedback. This laser is selected with different parameters with respect to the twin pair, so that the emissions of the synchronized, matched lasers are highly correlated, whereas their correlation with the driver is low. The digital message modulates the emission of the transmitter, as in a standard CM scheme. Message recovery is then obtained by subtracting, from the transmitted chaos-masked message, the chaos, locally generated by the synchronized receiver laser. Simulations have been performed with the Lang–Kobayashi model, keeping into account both laser and photodetector noise. Private transmission has been demonstrated by investigating the effect of the parameter mismatch, between transmitter and receiver, on synchronization and message recovery.