Artificial fingerprints engraved through block-copolymers as nanoscale physical unclonable functions for authentication and identification.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39663369.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-54492-8 and PMC identifier 11634899.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Besides causing financial losses and damage to the brand's reputation, counterfeiting can threaten the health system and global security. In this context, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have been proposed to overcome limitations of current anti-counterfeiting technologies. Here, we report on artificial fingerprints that can be directly engraved on a wide range of substrates through self-assembled block-copolymer templating as nanoscale PUFs for secure authentication and identification. Results show that morphological features can be exploited to encode fingerprint-like nanopatterns in binary code matrices representing a unique bit stream of information characterized by high uniqueness and entropy. A strategy based on computer vision concepts for authentication/identification in real-world scenarios is reported. Long-term reliable operation and robust authentication/identification against thermal treatment at cryogenic and high temperatures of the PUF have been demonstrated. These results pave the way for the realization of PUFs embracing the inherent stochasticity of self-assembled materials at the nanoscale.