Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-15-2021
Abstract
In this work, the novel usage of a physically unclonable function composed of a network of Mach-Zehnder interferometers for authentication tasks is described. The physically unclonable function hardware is completely reconfigurable, allowing for a large number of seemingly independent devices to be utilized, thus imitating a large array of single-response physically unclonable functions. It is proposed that any reconfigurable array of Mach-Zehnder interferometers can be used as an authentication mechanism, not only for physical objects, but for information transmitted both classically and quantumly. The proposed use-case for a fully-optical physically unclonable function, designed with reconfigurable hardware, is to authenticate messages between a trusted and possibly untrusted party; verifying that the messages received are generated by the holder of the authentic device.
Copyright Statement
This document was originally published in OSA Continuum by OSA Publishing. Copyright restrictions may apply. https://doi.org/10.1364/OSAC.399294
Publication Information
Jacinto, H. Shelton; Smith, A. Matthew; and Rafla, Nader I.. (2021). "Utilizing a Fully Optical and Reconfigurable PUF as a Quantum Authentication Mechanism". OSA Continuum, 4(2), 739-747. https://doi.org/10.1364/OSAC.399294