# Application of single-electron effects to fingerprints of chips using image recognition algorithms

## TL;DR

This paper explores using single-electron effects caused by trap sites in silicon transistors as unique fingerprints for chips, employing image recognition algorithms to identify individual devices and potentially creating a quantum-PUF.

## Contribution

It demonstrates the feasibility of using single-electron effects as physical fingerprints of chips through image recognition, introducing a quantum-PUF concept.

## Key findings

- Single-electron effects vary between devices due to trap site distribution.
- Image recognition algorithms can distinguish chip fingerprints based on these effects.
- Resonant tunneling features in Coulomb diagrams aid in device characterization.

## Abstract

Single-electron effects have been widely investigated as a typical physical phenomenon in nanoelectronics. The single-electron effect caused by trap sites has been observed in many devices. In general, traps are randomly distributed and not controllable; therefore, different current--voltage characteristics are observed through traps even in silicon transistors having the same device parameters (e.g., gate length). This allows us to use single-electron effects as fingerprints of chips. In this study, we analyze the single-electron effect of traps in conventional silicon transistors and show the possibility of their use as fingerprints of chips through image recognition algorithms. Resonant tunneling parts in the Coulomb diagram can also be used to characterize each device. These results show that single-electron effects can provide a quantum version of a physically unclonable function (quantum-PUF).