Physically Unclonable Functions Based on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: A Scalable and Inexpensive Method toward Unique Identifiers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scalable, inexpensive method for creating physically unclonable functions using arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes assembled via dielectrophoresis, leveraging nanoscale inhomogeneity for security applications.

Contribution

The authors develop a simple, scalable fabrication process for PUFs based on carbon nanotube arrays, enhancing security device production with nanoscale unpredictability.

Findings

Carbon nanotube arrays exhibit unique electronic profiles.

The fabrication method is scalable and cost-effective.

Nanoscale inhomogeneity ensures unclonability.

Abstract

A physically un-clonable function (PUF) is a physical system that cannot be reproduced or predicted and therefore is a good basis to build security and anti-counterfeiting applications. The unclonability of PUFs typically stems from the randmoness induced in a system during sophisticated fabrication methods. It is precisely this built-in complexity the bottleneck hindering scalability and increasing costs. Here, we produce in a simple manner PUFs based on arrays of carbon nanotubes junctions simultaneously assembled by dielectrophoresis. We demonstrate that the intrinsic inhomogeneity of carbon nanotubes at the nanoscale, combined with the unpredictability introduced by liquid phase-based fabrication methods results in unique electronic profiles of easily scalable devices. This approach could be extrapolated to generate PUFs based on other nanoscale materials