Designing physical unclonable functions from optically active materials
File(s)
Author(s)
Klausen, Maxime
Zhang, Junfang
Stevens, Molly M
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are artificial “fingerprints” provided by physical devices to authenticate manufactured goods. Their inherent unclonable nature positions them as one of the most promising tools to tackle global counterfeiting challenges. Leveraging the large parameter space in solution chemistry, chemically generated PUFs can achieve excellent device performance. Particularly, optically active materials have become valuable security inks thanks to their versatile, non-invasive, and non-destructive readouts, and PUF devices generated from stochastic nano-/micro-patterns of optical inks hold great potential. This review highlights recent advances in the design of optical PUF devices. A range of resonant and non-resonant optical materials used as security taggants are presented and their incorporation in state-of-the-art PUF devices is examined using non-deterministic fabrication techniques. By outlining design criteria, challenges, and opportunities, a roadmap is provided for developing next-generation PUFs using established and emerging optical probes and help advance security and reliability in anticounterfeiting technologies.
Date Issued
2025-12-10
Date Acceptance
2025-06-01
Citation
Advanced Materials, 2025, 37 (49)
ISSN
0935-9648
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Materials
Volume
37
Issue
49
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2502059
Date Publish Online
2025-06-09