Reconfigurable terahertz physical unclonable function based on graphene metaferrites
Journal
Journal of the Optical Society of America B:Optical Physics
Journal Volume
43
Journal Issue
1
Start Page
48
End Page
55
ISSN
0740-3224
1520-8540
Date Issued
2025-12-03
Author(s)
Abstract
We herein propose and conduct a statistical analysis of a reconfigurable physical unclonable function (PUF) based on the terahertz (THz) pulse scattering from graphene metaferrites. The resonant absorption in graphene metaferrites, which is ultrasensitive to natural variations in graphene’s material profiles, realizes a high-quality and dynamically reconfigurable entropy source for cryptographic key generation. Specifically, the unavoidable fluctuation of Fermi energy and plasmon loss in graphene during the manufacturing process enables each graphene metaferrite to have a unique scattering response under a THz pulsed excitation. These random and unclonable reflective responses can be properly discretized and digitized to a binary bitmap, enabling their utilization for cryptographic keys. Our numerical and statistical analysis shows that the proposed PUF keys can exhibit high randomness, unpredictability, and uniqueness, as well as excellent uniformity and reconfigurability with respect to the shaped excitation pulses and electrostatic doping. The proposed PUF devices show great potential for lightweight contactless identification and authentication, anti-counterfeiting, and encryption using THz radiation.
Publisher
Optica Publishing Group
Type
journal article