STAGE I
Summary of the activities proposed in stage 1 and the results obtained for each activity
This first stage of the project, which lasted approximately 6 months, consisted of the realization of the 3 main activities, presented below. The entire work was carried out by 8 researchers from the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics (INFLPR), entirely at INFLPR.
1.1 Installation and compatibilization of equipment and components (1)
This activity consisted of the installation and compatibility of newly purchased equipment and components (e.g., spatial phase modulator, phase retarders, polarizers, mounts, etc.) with existing equipment and components (existing components: phase retarders, lenses, mounts, scientific cameras, etc.), in parallel with the definition and crystallization of the concept of encryption-compaction of data by Fourier transformation. This activity was partly necessary because we had to adapt existing, sometimes old, components and equipment to the newly acquired ones. Also, the first experiments of physical coding-compactization and decoding-decompaction by Fourier transform were carried out. This activity was numbered (1) because a similar activity is to continue at the beginning of the second stage of the project, in 2023, when new equipment and components will be purchased and when we estimate that the concept of encryption-compression (and physical decryption-decompression) of the data will reach its maturity. So far we have achieved the goal of having achieved a tentative experimental arrangement of encryption-natural compression and decryption-natural decompression that are functional, although they still do not have optimal performance parameters and have not yet been connected.
1.2 State of the art
This activity consisted in the study of state of the art of the encryption of data by means of informational optics worldwide. Adapting the scheme of the proposed experimental arrangements of encryption-compression and decryption-decompression according to the current level of development. It was done largely by researching the scientific literature to determine the state of the art of data encryption in the world, and especially if encryption is done by physical means, as we propose. The remarkable conclusion is that information encryption by purely physical means is still a pioneering field. No one does a purely physical encryption, but at most uses physical keys for encryption.
1.3 Dissemination
We originally did not plan to already have publications on the topic of physical encryption at this stage of the project, but the editorial process was faster than we anticipated, and we did not only have conference participations, but even a journal article already accepted for publication. In the acknowledgments column of the publications, the data of this project have been entered. Here is the list of these publications:
Articles:
P. C. Logofătu, "Impure geometric progression of synthetic frequencies: A well-defined and precision-optimized multi-interferometric method for absolute distance measurement," Romanian Reports in Physics, in print, http://www.rrp.infim.ro/IP /AP635.pdf
Conference presentations:
- Mihaela Bojan, Maria Demeter, Iuliana Urzica, Petre Catalin Logofatu, Cristian Udrea, Jiří Kučerík, Eliška Kameníková, "Optical and thermal techniques combined for a better characterization of hydrogels," CEEC-PCMS1 Conference - 1st Central and Eastern European Conference on Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, 26-30 July 2022, Split – Croatia, https://www.ceec-physchem.org/topics.html
- C. Udrea, A. Simon, I. Urzica, "Manufacture of metal pattern by laser processing for microfluidic structures on polymers," CEEC-PCMS1 Conference - 1st Central and Eastern European Conference on Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, 26-30 July 2022, Split – Croatia, https://www.ceec-physchem.org/topics.html
Also, the project web page is active and has been updated. Its web address is https://phycod.sol.inflpr.ro/