Security applications of diodes with unique current-voltage characteristics

  • Authors:
  • Ulrich Rührmair;Christian Jaeger;Christian Hilgers;Michael Algasinger;György Csaba;Martin Stutzmann

  • Affiliations:
  • Computer Science Department;Walter Schottky Institute;Computer Science Department;Computer Science Department;Institute for Nanoelectronics, TU München, Germany;Computer Science Department

  • Venue:
  • FC'10 Proceedings of the 14th international conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Diodes are among the most simple and inexpensive electric components. In this paper, we investigate how random diodes with irregular I(U) curves can be employed for crypto and security purposes. We show that such diodes can be used to build Strong Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), Certificates of Authenticity (COAs), and Physically Obfuscated Keys (POKs), making them a broadly usable security tool. We detail how such diodes can be produced by an efficient and inexpensive method known as ALILE process. Furthermore, we present measurement data from real systems and discuss prototypical implementations. This includes the generation of helper data as well as efficient signature generation by elliptic curves and 2D barcode generation for the application of the diodes as COAs.