CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions

In this work, we explored a highly robust and unique Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) based on the stochastic assembly of single-walled Carbon NanoTubes (CNTs) integrated within a wafer-level technology. Our work demonstrated that the proposed CNT-based PUFs are exceptionally robust with an averag...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Florian Frank, Simon Böttger, Nico Mexis, Nikolaos Athanasios Anagnostopoulos, Ali Mohamed, Martin Hartmann, Harald Kuhn, Christian Helke, Tolga Arul, Stefan Katzenbeisser, Sascha Hermann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-11-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/22/2930
_version_ 1797458156674088960
author Florian Frank
Simon Böttger
Nico Mexis
Nikolaos Athanasios Anagnostopoulos
Ali Mohamed
Martin Hartmann
Harald Kuhn
Christian Helke
Tolga Arul
Stefan Katzenbeisser
Sascha Hermann
author_facet Florian Frank
Simon Böttger
Nico Mexis
Nikolaos Athanasios Anagnostopoulos
Ali Mohamed
Martin Hartmann
Harald Kuhn
Christian Helke
Tolga Arul
Stefan Katzenbeisser
Sascha Hermann
author_sort Florian Frank
collection DOAJ
description In this work, we explored a highly robust and unique Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) based on the stochastic assembly of single-walled Carbon NanoTubes (CNTs) integrated within a wafer-level technology. Our work demonstrated that the proposed CNT-based PUFs are exceptionally robust with an average fractional intra-device Hamming distance well below 0.01 both at room temperature and under varying temperatures in the range from 23 <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mrow></mrow><mo>∘</mo></msup><mi mathvariant="normal">C</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> to 120 <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mrow></mrow><mo>∘</mo></msup><mi mathvariant="normal">C</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. We attributed the excellent heat tolerance to comparatively low activation energies of less than 40 meV extracted from an Arrhenius plot. As the number of unstable bits in the examined implementation is extremely low, our devices allow for a lightweight and simple error correction, just by selecting stable cells, thereby diminishing the need for complex error correction. Through a significant number of tests, we demonstrated the capability of novel nanomaterial devices to serve as highly efficient hardware security primitives.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T16:32:59Z
format Article
id doaj.art-18b5a07d886c425a95c76dce233c15df
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2079-4991
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T16:32:59Z
publishDate 2023-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Nanomaterials
spelling doaj.art-18b5a07d886c425a95c76dce233c15df2023-11-24T14:58:49ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912023-11-011322293010.3390/nano13222930CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable FunctionsFlorian Frank0Simon Böttger1Nico Mexis2Nikolaos Athanasios Anagnostopoulos3Ali Mohamed4Martin Hartmann5Harald Kuhn6Christian Helke7Tolga Arul8Stefan Katzenbeisser9Sascha Hermann10Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Passau, Innstraße 43, 94032 Passau, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyFaculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Passau, Innstraße 43, 94032 Passau, GermanyFaculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Passau, Innstraße 43, 94032 Passau, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyFaculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Passau, Innstraße 43, 94032 Passau, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyCenter for Microtechnologies, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Str. 70, 09126 Chemnitz, GermanyIn this work, we explored a highly robust and unique Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) based on the stochastic assembly of single-walled Carbon NanoTubes (CNTs) integrated within a wafer-level technology. Our work demonstrated that the proposed CNT-based PUFs are exceptionally robust with an average fractional intra-device Hamming distance well below 0.01 both at room temperature and under varying temperatures in the range from 23 <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mrow></mrow><mo>∘</mo></msup><mi mathvariant="normal">C</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> to 120 <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mrow></mrow><mo>∘</mo></msup><mi mathvariant="normal">C</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. We attributed the excellent heat tolerance to comparatively low activation energies of less than 40 meV extracted from an Arrhenius plot. As the number of unstable bits in the examined implementation is extremely low, our devices allow for a lightweight and simple error correction, just by selecting stable cells, thereby diminishing the need for complex error correction. Through a significant number of tests, we demonstrated the capability of novel nanomaterial devices to serve as highly efficient hardware security primitives.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/22/2930Carbon NanoTube (CNT)Physical Unclonable Function (PUF)Nanomaterials (NMs)hardware securitysecurityprivacy
spellingShingle Florian Frank
Simon Böttger
Nico Mexis
Nikolaos Athanasios Anagnostopoulos
Ali Mohamed
Martin Hartmann
Harald Kuhn
Christian Helke
Tolga Arul
Stefan Katzenbeisser
Sascha Hermann
CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
Nanomaterials
Carbon NanoTube (CNT)
Physical Unclonable Function (PUF)
Nanomaterials (NMs)
hardware security
security
privacy
title CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
title_full CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
title_fullStr CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
title_full_unstemmed CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
title_short CNT-PUFs: Highly Robust and Heat-Tolerant Carbon-Nanotube-Based Physical Unclonable Functions
title_sort cnt pufs highly robust and heat tolerant carbon nanotube based physical unclonable functions
topic Carbon NanoTube (CNT)
Physical Unclonable Function (PUF)
Nanomaterials (NMs)
hardware security
security
privacy
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/22/2930
work_keys_str_mv AT florianfrank cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT simonbottger cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT nicomexis cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT nikolaosathanasiosanagnostopoulos cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT alimohamed cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT martinhartmann cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT haraldkuhn cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT christianhelke cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT tolgaarul cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT stefankatzenbeisser cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions
AT saschahermann cntpufshighlyrobustandheattolerantcarbonnanotubebasedphysicalunclonablefunctions