Active fiber optic technologies used as tamper-indicating devices

Abstract

Issued by Sandia National Laboratories, operated for the United States Department of Energy by Sandia Corporation. NOTICE: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, any agency thereof or any of their contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, any agency thereof or any of their contractors.

Tamper-Indicating Quantum Seal

“…Tamper-indicating optical seals are widely used for verifying the integrity of enclosed systems, including storage containers, physical perimeters, and fiber networks [1][2][3][4]. Fiber-optic seals have proven especially useful for actively surveying large areas or inventories due to the extended transmission range and flexible layout of fiber [5,6]. These seals operate as optical continuity sensors that confirm transmission of an encoded light pulse from source to receiver with tampering indicated by either the absence of the light or an error in the received encoding.…”