Quantum random number generation (QRNG) harnesses the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanical phenomena. On-chip photonic circuitry provides a robust and versatile platform that can address and explore fundamental questions in quantum as well as classical physics. Likewise, integrated waveguide-based architectures hold the potential for intrinsically scalable, efficient and compact implementations of photonic QRNG. Here, we harness the quantum emission from the two-dimensional material hexagonal boron nitride an emerging atomically thin medium that can generate single photons on demand while operating at room temperature. By means of a customized splitter arrangement, we achieve true random number generation through the measurement of single photons exiting one of four designated output ports, and subsequently verify the randomness of the sequences in accordance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology benchmark suite. Our results clearly demonstrate the viability and efficiency of this approach to on-chip deterministic random number generators.

The exceptional properties exhibited by two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, are rooted in the underlying physics of the relativistic Dirac equation that describes the low energy excitations of such molecular systems. In this study, we explore a periodic lattice that provides access to the full solution spectrum of the extended Dirac Hamiltonian. Employing its photonic implementation of evanescently coupled waveguides, we indicate its ability to independently perturb the symmetries of the discrete model (breaking, also, the barrier towards the type-II phase) and arbitrarily define the location, anisotropy, and tilt of Dirac cones in the bulk. This unique aspect of topological control gives rise to highly versatile edge states, including an unusual class that emerges from the type-II degeneracies residing in the complex space of k. By probing these states, we investigate the topological nature of tilt and shed light on novel transport dynamics supported by Dirac configurations in two dimensions.

Quantum random number generation (QRNG) harnesses the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanical phenomena. Here, we couple bright room-temperature single-photon emission from a hexagonal boron nitride atomic defect into a laser-written photonic chip and demonstrate QRNG. © 2020 The Author(s)