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arXiv:2012.10326 · OSA Continuum

Utilizing a fully optical and reconfigurable PUF as a quantum authentication mechanism

H. Shelton Jacinto, A. Matthew Smith, Nader I. Rafla

Published Nov 26, 2020• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this work, the novel usage of a physically unclonable function composed of a network of Mach-Zehnder interferometers for authentication tasks is described. The physically unclonable function hardware is completely reconfigurable, allowing for a large number of seemingly independent devices to be utilized, thus imitating a large array of single-response physically unclonable functions. It is proposed that any reconfigurable array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers can be used as an authentication mechanism, not only for physical objects, but for information transmitted both classically and quantumly. The proposed use-case for a fully-optical physically unclonable function, designed with reconfigurable hardware, is to authenticate messages between a trusted and possibly untrusted party; verifying that the messages received are generated by the holder of the authentic device.

DOI
10.1364/osac.399294

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Utilizing a Fully Optical and Reconfigurable PUF as a Quantum Authentication Mechanism

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In this work, the novel usage of a physically unclonable function composed of a network of Mach-Zehnder interferometers for authentication tasks is described. The physically unclonable function hardware is completely reconfigurable, allowing for a large number of seemingly independent devices to be utilized, thus imitating a large array of single-response physically unclonable functions. It is proposed that any reconfigurable array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers can be used as an authentication mechanism, not only for physical objects, but for information transmitted both classically and quantumly. The proposed use-case for a fully-optical physically unclonable function, designed with reconfigurable hardware, is to authenticate messages between a trusted and possibly untrusted party; verifying that the messages received are generated by the holder of the authentic device.

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Reconfigurable Integrated Optical Interferometer Network-Based Physically Unclonable Function

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In this article we describe the characteristics of a large integrated linear optical device containing Mach-Zehnder interferometers and describe its potential use as a physically unclonable function. We propose that any tunable interferometric device of practical scale will be intrinsically unclonable and will possess an inherent randomness that can be useful for many practical applications. The device under test has the additional use-case as a general-purpose photonic manipulation tool, with various applications based on the experimental results of our prototype. Once our tunable interferometric device is set to work as a physically unclonable function, we find that there are approximately 6.85 × 1035challenge-response pairs, where each challenge can be quickly reconfigured by tuning the interferometer array for subsequent challenges.

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Disordered photonic structures are promising materials for the realization of physical unclonable functions (PUF), physical objects that can overcome the limitations of conventional digital security methods and that enable cryptographic protocols immune against attacks by future quantum computers. One PUF limitation, so far, has been that their physical configuration is either fixed or can only be permanently modified, and hence allowing only one token per device. We show that it is possible to overcome this limitation by creating a reconfigurable structure made by light-transformable polymers, in which the physical structure of the unclonable function itself can be reversibly reconfigured. We term this novel concept Hyper PUF or HPUF in that it allows a large number of physical unclonable functions to co-exist simultaneously within one and the same device. The physical transformation of the structure is done all-optically in a reversible and spatially controlled fashion. Our novel technology provides a massive enhancement in security generating more complex keys containing a larger amount of information. At the same time, it allows for new applications, for example serving multiple clients on a single encryption device and the practical implementation of quantum secure authentication of data.

arXiv:2301.02147•Dec 23, 2022•1 citation

Quantum-Secure Physical Unclonable Function enabled by Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuits

G. Sarantoglou, N. Tzekas, G. Moustakas +8 more

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are hardware security primitives whose inherent physical complexity can be exploited for secure authentication and cryptographic key generation. Silicon photonic devices, owing to their suitability for quantum and artificial intelligence applications alongside standard CMOS fabrication processes, constitute a highly promising substrate for integrated multifunctional PUFs. Despite the advanced security guarantees offered by quantum cryptographic protocols and the central role of silicon photonics in quantum technologies, quantum readout strategies based on single-photon states for photonic PUFs remain largely unexplored. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a silicon nitride (SiN) programmable photonic Mach Zehnder interferometer mesh that implements a unitary transformation and operates as a PUF, whose secret physical signature arises from uncontrollable waveguide variations during fabrication. Using experimentally derived parameters from the SiN integrated mesh, we further introduce and numerically evaluate a quantum readout protocol that combines single-photon states with PUFs. Maximally mixed quantum states are employed to conceal the underlying unitary transformation from passive eavesdropping. Security against adversaries possessing devices fabricated under similar conditions is assessed, with authentication performance quantified through Monte Carlo analysis of the false acceptance and false rejection rates as a function of the number of detected events and corrected errors. The results indicate exceptional performance with equal error rates as low as 10 to the minus 14, highlighting the potential of quantum secure PUFs for high security authentication applications.

physics.opticsCross-listedarXiv:2605.14959•May 15, 2026•0 citations

Quantum readout of Physical Unclonable Functions

Boris Škorić

Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are physical structures that are hard to clone and have a unique challenge-response behavior. The term PUF was coined by Pappu et al. in 2001. That work triggered a lot of interest, and since then a substantial number of papers has been written about the use of a wide variety of physical structures for different security purposes such as identification, authentication, read-proof key storage, key distribution, tamper evidence, anti-counterfeiting, software-to-hardware binding and trusted computing. In this paper we propose a new security primitive: the quantum-readout PUF (QR-PUF). This is a classical PUF, without internal quantum degrees of freedom, which is challenged using a quantum state, e.g. a single-photon state, and whose response is also a quantum state. By the no-cloning property of unknown quantum states, attackers cannot intercept challenges or responses without noticeably disturbing the readout process. Thus, a verifier who sends quantum states as challenges and receives the correct quantum states back can be certain that he is probing a specific QR-PUF without disturbances, even if the QR-PUF is far away "in the field" and under hostile control. For PUFs whose information content is not exceedingly large, all currently known PUF-based authentication and anti-counterfeiting schemes require trusted readout devices in the field. Our quantum readout scheme has no such requirement. Furthermore, we show how the QR-PUF authentication scheme can be interwoven with quantum key exchange (QKE), leading to an authenticated QKE protocol between two parties. This protocol has the special property that it requires no a priori secret shared by the two parties, and that the quantum channel is the authenticated channel, allowing for an unauthenticated classical channel. We provide security proofs for a limited class of attacks. The proofs depend on the physical unclonability of PUFs and on the practical infeasibility of building a quantum computer.

International Journal of Quantum Information•Feb 1, 2012•64 citations

Authenticated communication from quantum readout of PUFs

Boris Škorić, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse, Allard P. Mosk

Quantum readout of physical unclonable functions (PUFs) is a recently introduced method for remote authentication of objects. We present an extension of the protocol to enable the authentication of data : A verifier can check if received classical data were sent by the PUF holder. We call this modification QR-d or, in the case of the optical-PUF implementation, QSA-d. We discuss how QSA-d can be operated in a parallel way. We also present a protocol for authenticating quantum states.

Quantum Information Processing•Jul 5, 2017•17 citations
In this work, the novel usage of a physically unclonable function composed of a network of Mach-Zehnder interferometers for authentication tasks is described. The physically unclonable function hardware is completely reconfigurable, allowing for a large number of seemingly independent devices to be utilized, thus imitating a large array of single-response physically unclonable functions. It is proposed that any reconfigurable array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers can be used as an authentication mechanism, not only for physical objects, but for information transmitted both classically and quantumly. The proposed use-case for a fully-optical physically unclonable function, designed with reconfigurable hardware, is to authenticate messages between a trusted and possibly untrusted party; verifying that the messages received are generated by the holder of the authentic device.
In this work, the novel usage of a physically unclonable function composed of a network of Mach-Zehnder interferometers for authentication tasks is described. The physically unclonable function hardware is completely reconfigurable, allowing for a large number of seemingly independent devices to be utilized, thus imitating a large array of single-response physically unclonable functions. It is proposed that any reconfigurable array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers can be used as an authentication mechanism, not only for physical objects, but for information transmitted both classically and quantumly. The proposed use-case for a fully-optical physically unclonable function, designed with reconfigurable hardware, is to authenticate messages between a trusted and possibly untrusted party; verifying that the messages received are generated by the holder of the authentic device.
In this article we describe the characteristics of a large integrated linear optical device containing Mach-Zehnder interferometers and describe its potential use as a physically unclonable function. We propose that any tunable interferometric device of practical scale will be intrinsically unclonable and will possess an inherent randomness that can be useful for many practical applications. The device under test has the additional use-case as a general-purpose photonic manipulation tool, with various applications based on the experimental results of our prototype. Once our tunable interferometric device is set to work as a physically unclonable function, we find that there are approximately 6.85 × 1035challenge-response pairs, where each challenge can be quickly reconfigured by tuning the interferometer array for subsequent challenges.
Disordered photonic structures are promising materials for the realization of physical unclonable functions (PUF), physical objects that can overcome the limitations of conventional digital security methods and that enable cryptographic protocols immune against attacks by future quantum computers. One PUF limitation, so far, has been that their physical configuration is either fixed or can only be permanently modified, and hence allowing only one token per device. We show that it is possible to overcome this limitation by creating a reconfigurable structure made by light-transformable polymers, in which the physical structure of the unclonable function itself can be reversibly reconfigured. We term this novel concept Hyper PUF or HPUF in that it allows a large number of physical unclonable functions to co-exist simultaneously within one and the same device. The physical transformation of the structure is done all-optically in a reversible and spatially controlled fashion. Our novel technology provides a massive enhancement in security generating more complex keys containing a larger amount of information. At the same time, it allows for new applications, for example serving multiple clients on a single encryption device and the practical implementation of quantum secure authentication of data.
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are hardware security primitives whose inherent physical complexity can be exploited for secure authentication and cryptographic key generation. Silicon photonic devices, owing to their suitability for quantum and artificial intelligence applications alongside standard CMOS fabrication processes, constitute a highly promising substrate for integrated multifunctional PUFs. Despite the advanced security guarantees offered by quantum cryptographic protocols and the central role of silicon photonics in quantum technologies, quantum readout strategies based on single-photon states for photonic PUFs remain largely unexplored. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a silicon nitride (SiN) programmable photonic Mach Zehnder interferometer mesh that implements a unitary transformation and operates as a PUF, whose secret physical signature arises from uncontrollable waveguide variations during fabrication. Using experimentally derived parameters from the SiN integrated mesh, we further introduce and numerically evaluate a quantum readout protocol that combines single-photon states with PUFs. Maximally mixed quantum states are employed to conceal the underlying unitary transformation from passive eavesdropping. Security against adversaries possessing devices fabricated under similar conditions is assessed, with authentication performance quantified through Monte Carlo analysis of the false acceptance and false rejection rates as a function of the number of detected events and corrected errors. The results indicate exceptional performance with equal error rates as low as 10 to the minus 14, highlighting the potential of quantum secure PUFs for high security authentication applications.
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are physical structures that are hard to clone and have a unique challenge-response behavior. The term PUF was coined by Pappu et al. in 2001. That work triggered a lot of interest, and since then a substantial number of papers has been written about the use of a wide variety of physical structures for different security purposes such as identification, authentication, read-proof key storage, key distribution, tamper evidence, anti-counterfeiting, software-to-hardware binding and trusted computing. In this paper we propose a new security primitive: the quantum-readout PUF (QR-PUF). This is a classical PUF, without internal quantum degrees of freedom, which is challenged using a quantum state, e.g. a single-photon state, and whose response is also a quantum state. By the no-cloning property of unknown quantum states, attackers cannot intercept challenges or responses without noticeably disturbing the readout process. Thus, a verifier who sends quantum states as challenges and receives the correct quantum states back can be certain that he is probing a specific QR-PUF without disturbances, even if the QR-PUF is far away "in the field" and under hostile control. For PUFs whose information content is not exceedingly large, all currently known PUF-based authentication and anti-counterfeiting schemes require trusted readout devices in the field. Our quantum readout scheme has no such requirement. Furthermore, we show how the QR-PUF authentication scheme can be interwoven with quantum key exchange (QKE), leading to an authenticated QKE protocol between two parties. This protocol has the special property that it requires no a priori secret shared by the two parties, and that the quantum channel is the authenticated channel, allowing for an unauthenticated classical channel. We provide security proofs for a limited class of attacks. The proofs depend on the physical unclonability of PUFs and on the practical infeasibility of building a quantum computer.