Nonlinear multi-image optical authentication based on QR decomposition and Kramer-Kronig relations

Abstract In this paper, a new nonlinear optical multi-image authentication scheme is proposed based on Kramers-Kronig digital holography and orthogonal triangular decomposition or QR decomposition. Here, the complex light field carrying the information of multiple images is modulated by random phase masks and propagated at certain distance. Afterwards, the QR decomposition is applied to the complex wavefront to generate the private keys and to add the non-linearity in the scheme. Next, the product of orthogonal matrix and upper triangular matrix is processed further. The obtained output is modulated by different phase masks and interfered with reference beam to record the encrypted image. For decryption, the Kramer-Kronig relation is utilized to extract the plaintext images directly with only the positive frequency part. A series of numerical simulations are conducted to validate the efficacy and robustness of proposed image authentication scheme.