Work

Photo-generated charge-driven reconfigurable physical unclonable function for high-speed true random number generation

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Random number generation serves as a core security primitive in cryptography, IoT security, and related fields. Conventional pseudo-random number generators are vulnerable to algorithmic prediction, while true random number generators (TRNGs) based on static optical physical unclonable functions (PUFs) suffer from bottlenecks such as the lack of reconfigurability. This work proposes a dynamic reconfigurable optical PUF driven by photo-generated charges, facilitating dynamic updates of the entropy source. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PUF exhibits stable reconfiguration over multiple cycles, generating speckle patterns characterized by both spatial and temporal randomness. Furthermore, a TRNG based on this reconfigurable PUF is constructed, achieving a random number generation rate exceeding 65 Gbit/s at an image acquisition rate of 12.5 kHz. The generated random numbers successfully pass both NIST and Dieharder tests. This study provides a novel implementation scheme for dynamically reconfigurable physical entropy sources, advancing the integrated and secure practical deployment of optical PUFs and TRNGs.

Source: Optics & Laser Technology

DOI: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2026.116684

Authors: Ruijie Hui, Feiliang Chen, Haonian Fang, Mo Li, Jian Zhang

Institution: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Language: English

Topic: Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security

Subfield: Hardware and Architecture

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,230

Funders: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, National University's Basic Research Foundation of China