English

A physically unclonable function using NV diamond magnetometry and micromagnet arrays

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2020-06-24 v1 Instrumentation and Detectors Quantum Physics

Abstract

A physically unclonable function (PUF) is an embedded hardware security measure that provides protection against counterfeiting. Here we present our work on using an array of randomly-magnetized micron-sized ferromagnetic bars (micromagnets) as a PUF. We employ a 4 μ\mum thick surface layer of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond to image the magnetic fields from each micromagnet in the array, after which we extract the magnetic polarity of each micromagnet using image analysis techniques. After evaluating the randomness of the micromagnet array PUF and the sensitivity of the NV readout, we conclude by discussing the possible future enhancements for improved security and magnetic readout.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2002.07952,
  title  = {A physically unclonable function using NV diamond magnetometry and micromagnet arrays},
  author = {Pauli Kehayias and Ezra Bussmann and Tzu-Ming Lu and Andrew M. Mounce},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2002.07952},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

8 pages main text (4 figures), 4 pages supplementary information (3 figures)

R2 v1 2026-06-23T13:46:15.468Z