Demonstration of high-reconfigurability and low-power strong physical unclonable function empowered by FeFET cycle-to-cycle variation and charge-domain computing

Taixin Li, Xinrui Guo, Franz Müller, Sukhrob Abdulazhanov, Xiaoyang Ma, Hongtao Zhong, Yongpan Liu, Vijaykrishnan Narayanan, Huazhong Yang, Kai Ni (), Thomas Kämpfe () and Xueqing Li ()
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Taixin Li: Tsinghua University
Xinrui Guo: Tsinghua University
Franz Müller: Fraunhofer IPMS
Sukhrob Abdulazhanov: Fraunhofer IPMS
Xiaoyang Ma: Princeton University
Hongtao Zhong: Tsinghua University
Yongpan Liu: Tsinghua University
Vijaykrishnan Narayanan: The Pennsylvania State University
Huazhong Yang: Tsinghua University
Kai Ni: University of Notre Dame
Thomas Kämpfe: Fraunhofer IPMS
Xueqing Li: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are of immense potential in authentication scenarios for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. For creditable and lightweight PUF applications, key attributes, including low power, high reconfigurability and large challenge-response pair (CRP) space, are desirable. Here, we report a ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET)-based strong PUF with high reconfigurability and low power, which leverages the FeFET cycle-to-cycle variation throughout the workflow and introduces charge-domain in-memory computing. The proposed PUF cells are fabricated at 28 nm node, and the experimental measurements reveal high uniformity, uniqueness and repeatability. Remarkably, our PUF achieves near-ideal reconfigurability and ultra-low 1.89fJ per bit readout energy, significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art PUFs. Furthermore, we show that the PUF is robust against parameter variations and resilient to machine learning (ML) attacks. These performances highlight the great promise of the FeFET-based strong PUF as a feasible IoT security solution.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55380-x

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