Modern technology unintentionally provides resources that enable the trust ofeveryday interactions to be undermined. Some authentication schemes addressthis issue using devices that give unique outputs in response to a challenge.These signatures are generated by hard-to-predict physical responses derivedfrom structural characteristics, which lend themselves to two differentarchitectures, known as unique objects (UNOs) and physically unclonablefunctions (PUFs). The classical design of UNOs and PUFs limits their size and,in some cases, their security. Here we show that quantum confinement lendsitself to the provision of unique identities at the nanoscale, by usingfluctuations in tunnelling measurements through quantum wells in resonanttunnelling diodes (RTDs). This provides an uncomplicated measurement ofidentity without conventional resource limitations whilst providing robustsecurity. The confined energy levels are highly sensitive to the specificnanostructure within each RTD, resulting in a distinct tunnelling spectrum forevery device, as they contain a unique and unpredictable structure that ispresently impossible to clone. This new class of authentication device operateswith few resources in simple electronic structures above room temperature.
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