A tri-channel liquid crystal device for single-pixel-imaging encryption.

Photon plays a dominant role as the information carrier in telecom, thanks to the merits of large bandwidth and low energy consumption. Optical encryption has kept attracting intensive attention in the era of frequent information exchange. Multidegrees of light facilitate enhancing the security of data transmission. Here, following the Malus law and the phase encoding rule of the geometric phase, dual-channel intensities and a far-field hologram of the transmitted light are separately programmed. Different quick response codes that link to plaintexts are recorded into two intensity channels. They are further transformed according to the predetermined rule as revealed by the hologram to form the key. The key converts the protected information in a single-pixel imaging process, and generated ciphertexts are inserted into the plaintexts to perform the encryption. The tri-channel liquid crystal device enables simultaneous encryption in two separate routes and significantly improves information security. The design supplies a universal key for data encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]