Physical Unclonable Functions Based on Transient Form of Memristors for Emergency Defenses

Abstract

In this letter, transient form of diffusive memristors with cross-point structure of W/Ag/MgO/Ag/W for physical unclonable functions (PUF) were proposed for the first time. The stochastic dispersion of Ag in MgO switching layer made the randomness maximized, which achieved an inter-chip Hamming distance of 49.1%. Importantly, triggered failure of the transient PUF devices was activated in deionized water at room temperature after 3 min immersion. Additionally, the transient PUF devices were transferred onto flexible polyimide substrate by water-assisted transfer printing method without any bits flipped, which achieved physical disappearance in deionized water finally. This transient form of memristor provides powerful insights into next-generation PUF design and hardware security for emergency defenses.