Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026
09:59
Fabrication of Flexible Image Sensor Based on Lateral NIPIN Phototransistors
Published on: June 23, 2018
Security assessment of photonic integrated circuit-based physically unclonable functions
Optics Express
|August 14, 2026
Summary
Physically unclonable functions (PUFs) on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are vulnerable. Linear optically encoded PUFs can be mathematically cloned after observing limited challenge-response data, impacting hardware security.
Area of Science:
- Hardware security
- Photonics
- Integrated circuits
Background:
- Physically unclonable functions (PUFs) are crucial hardware security primitives.
- Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) offer a promising platform for PUF realization.
- Existing PIC-based PUFs are categorized into electrically configured and optically encoded designs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the security properties of photonic integrated circuit-based PUFs.
- To investigate the mathematical unclonability of optically encoded PUFs.
- To introduce a modeling attack against linear optical regime PUFs.
Main Methods:
- Classification of existing PIC-based PUF designs.
- Development of a modeling attack targeting optically encoded PUFs.
- Simulation of a representative PUF construction in the linear optical regime.
Main Results:
- Linear optically encoded PUFs operating in the linear optical regime are mathematically clonable.
- Observing as few as 200 challenge-response pairs can reveal the PUF's mapping.
- Security properties of PIC-based PUFs are insufficiently analyzed.
Conclusions:
- Mathematical unclonability cannot be assumed for linear optically encoded PIC-based PUFs.
- A thorough security assessment is required before deploying these PUFs in authentication protocols.
- The findings highlight the need for more robust PUF designs and security analyses.
