Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

CRYPTOGRAPHY

Security keys from paired up nanotube devices

Nature Electronics volume 5, pages 412–413 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors that are fabricated using aligned nanotube arrays exhibit an identical sequence of random ternary bits, which can be separated and used to generate security keys for encrypted communications.

Communication of sensitive information requires encryption and this relies on the generation, storage and retrieval of unique keys. These keys are used to generate an encrypted output that authenticates electronic devices. Most approaches use keys that are programmed into non-volatile memory but this makes them vulnerable to physical and side channel attacks (such as when an attacker gets information about keys by observing consumed power or emitted radiation1). The problem can be overcome by using physically unclonable functions (PUFs): hardware-based security primitives that are unique and unclonable2. PUFs use random imperfections in a physical entity, typically caused by fabrication process variations. For example, silicon-based PUFs leverage variations in integrated circuits, such as variation in dopants, defects and device dimensions3. However, silicon PUFs can have a large bit-error-rate as their functionality can be disturbed by supply voltage or temperature variations during operation. The imperfections and high degree of randomness in many nanomaterials — such as the fluorescence of inkjet-printed semiconducting core–shell quantum dots4 — can also be exploited to generate robust and tamper-resistant primitives. However, such approaches that use optical inspection for key generation can be a challenge to integrate with many electronics applications due to the need for high-cost microscopes and optical readout for key generation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Fig. 1: Twin PUFs based on aligned carbon nanotube arrays.

References

  1. Hu, Z. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 559–565 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Devadas, S. et al. In 2008 IEEE Int. Conf. RFID 58–64 (IEEE, 2008).

  3. Gassend, B., Clarke, D., van Dijk, M. & Devadas, S. In Proc. 9th ACM Conf. Comput. Commun. Secur. (ed. Atluri, V.) 148–160 (ACM, 2002).

  4. Liu, Y. et al. Nat. Commun. 10, 2409 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kang, S. J. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2, 230–236 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kumar, S., Pimparkar, N., Murthy, J. Y. & Alam, M. A. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 123505 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kumar, N. et al. IEEE Internet of Things J. 6, 325–334 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhong, D. et al. Nat. Electron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00787-x (2022).

  9. Scholz, A. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 5543 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Satish Kumar

Authors
  1. Satish Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satish Kumar.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kumar, S. Security keys from paired up nanotube devices. Nat Electron 5, 412–413 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00805-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00805-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing