Universal and special keys based on phase-truncated Fourier transform.

We propose a novel optical asymmetric cryptosystem based on a phase-truncated Fourier transform. Two decryption keys independent of each other are generated. They are referred to as universal key and special key, respectively. Each of them can be used for decryption independently in absence of the other. The universal key is applicable to decrypt any ciphertext encoded by the same encryption key, but with poor legibility. On the contrary, the special key is adequate for legible decryption, but only valid for one ciphertext corresponding to the specified plaintext. A set of simulation results show the interesting performance of two types of de cryption keys.