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Open AccessArticle
Exploring the Inherent Variability of Economically Fabricated ZnO Devices Towards Physical Unclonable Functions for Secure Authentication
by
Savvas Ermeidis
Savvas Ermeidis
Dimitrios Tassis
Dimitrios Tassis
George P. Papageorgiou
George P. Papageorgiou
Stavros G. Stavrinides
Stavros G. Stavrinides
and
Eleni Makarona
Eleni Makarona
1
Department of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, School of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
2
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”, Agia Paraskevi, 153 41 Athens, Greece
3
Physics Department, Democritus University of Thrace, St. Lucas, 654 03 Kavala, Greece
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Micromachines 2025, 16(6), 627; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060627 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 9 February 2025
/
Revised: 12 May 2025
/
Accepted: 20 May 2025
/
Published: 26 May 2025
Abstract
Meeting the rising need for secure authentication in IoT and Industry 4.0, this work presents chemically synthesized ZnO nanostructured homojunctions as powerful and scalable physical unclonable functions (PUFs). By leveraging intrinsic variability from Li doping and the stochastic hydrothermal growth process, we systematically identified electrical parameters offering outstanding variability, stability, and reproducibility. ZnO devices outperform commercial diodes by delivering richer parameter diversity, lower costs, and superior environmental sustainability. Pushing beyond traditional approaches, we introduce multi-level quantization for boosted accuracy and entropy, demonstrate the normal distribution of challenge candidate parameters to support a novel method under development, and extract multiple parameters (8–10) per device instead of relying on a single-bit output. Parameter optimization and selection are performed upfront through a rigorous assessment of variability and inter-correlation, maximizing uniqueness and reliability. Thanks to their strong scalability and eco-friendliness, ZnO-based homojunctions emerge as a dynamic, future-proof platform for building low-cost, high-security, and sustainable digital identity systems.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Ermeidis, S.; Tassis, D.; Papageorgiou, G.P.; Stavrinides, S.G.; Makarona, E.
Exploring the Inherent Variability of Economically Fabricated ZnO Devices Towards Physical Unclonable Functions for Secure Authentication. Micromachines 2025, 16, 627.
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060627
AMA Style
Ermeidis S, Tassis D, Papageorgiou GP, Stavrinides SG, Makarona E.
Exploring the Inherent Variability of Economically Fabricated ZnO Devices Towards Physical Unclonable Functions for Secure Authentication. Micromachines. 2025; 16(6):627.
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060627
Chicago/Turabian Style
Ermeidis, Savvas, Dimitrios Tassis, George P. Papageorgiou, Stavros G. Stavrinides, and Eleni Makarona.
2025. "Exploring the Inherent Variability of Economically Fabricated ZnO Devices Towards Physical Unclonable Functions for Secure Authentication" Micromachines 16, no. 6: 627.
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060627
APA Style
Ermeidis, S., Tassis, D., Papageorgiou, G. P., Stavrinides, S. G., & Makarona, E.
(2025). Exploring the Inherent Variability of Economically Fabricated ZnO Devices Towards Physical Unclonable Functions for Secure Authentication. Micromachines, 16(6), 627.
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060627
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