Robust Key Extraction from Physical Uncloneable Functions

PT Tuyls, Boris Škorić

Pol Juliá Farré, Vladlen Galetsky, Mohamed Belhassen +6 more

Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) offer a physically grounded approach to secure authentication, extending the capabilities of classical PUFs. This review covers their theoretical foundations and key implementation challenges—such as quantum memories and Haar‐randomness—, and distinguishes QPUFs from Quantum Readout PUFs (QR‐PUFs), more experimentally accessible yet less robust against quantum‐capable adversaries. A co‐citation‐based selection method is employed to trace the evolution of QPUF architectures, from early QR‐PUFs to more recent Hybrid PUFs (HPUFs). This method further supports a discussion on the role of information‐theoretic analysis in mitigating inconsistencies in QPUF responses, underscoring the deep connection between secret‐key generation and authentication. Despite notable advances, achieving practical and robust QPUF‐based authentication remains an open challenge.

Pim Tuyls, Boris Škorić, Sjoerd Stallinga +2 more

Pol Juliá Farré, Vladlen Galetsky, Mohamed Belhassen +6 more

ABSTRACT Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) offer a physically grounded approach to secure authentication, extending the capabilities of classical PUFs. This review covers their theoretical foundations and key implementation challenges—such as quantum memories and Haar‐randomness—, and distinguishes QPUFs from Quantum Readout PUFs (QR‐PUFs), more experimentally accessible yet less robust against quantum‐capable adversaries. A co‐citation‐based selection method is employed to trace the evolution of QPUF architectures, from early QR‐PUFs to more recent Hybrid PUFs (HPUFs). This method further supports a discussion on the role of information‐theoretic analysis in mitigating inconsistencies in QPUF responses, underscoring the deep connection between secret‐key generation and authentication. Despite notable advances, achieving practical and robust QPUF‐based authentication remains an open challenge.

Ulrich Rührmair

Frédéric Monet, Anthony Roberge, Raman Kashyap

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are hardware-based unique and irreproducible keys that can be used for authentication and encryption. We show that robustly secure PUFs can be easily manufactured by inscribing random gratings in optical fibers.