Artificial fingerprints engraved through block-copolymers as nanoscale physical unclonable functions for authentication and identification

Irdi Murataj, Chiara Magosso, Stefano Carignano, Matteo Fretto, Federico Ferrarese Lupi () and Gianluca Milano ()
Additional contact information
Irdi Murataj: INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica)
Chiara Magosso: INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica)
Stefano Carignano: Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Matteo Fretto: INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica)
Federico Ferrarese Lupi: INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica)
Gianluca Milano: INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica)

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Besides causing financial losses and damage to the brand’s reputation, counterfeiting can threaten the health system and global security. In this context, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have been proposed to overcome limitations of current anti-counterfeiting technologies. Here, we report on artificial fingerprints that can be directly engraved on a wide range of substrates through self-assembled block-copolymer templating as nanoscale PUFs for secure authentication and identification. Results show that morphological features can be exploited to encode fingerprint-like nanopatterns in binary code matrices representing a unique bit stream of information characterized by high uniqueness and entropy. A strategy based on computer vision concepts for authentication/identification in real-world scenarios is reported. Long-term reliable operation and robust authentication/identification against thermal treatment at cryogenic and high temperatures of the PUF have been demonstrated. These results pave the way for the realization of PUFs embracing the inherent stochasticity of self-assembled materials at the nanoscale.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54492-8

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