Reliable physical unclonable function for device authentication

A method of providing a secure device having a physical unclonable function, the method comprising:

• depositing a semiconducting material in at least two vias in a backend of an integrated circuit, the semiconducting material forming at least one structure representing the physical unclonable function;
• measuring at least one property of the semiconducting material in the at least two vias to derive a signature;
• and
• deriving a binary key from the signature, wherein the binary key is derived by applying a threshold to one or more physical unclonable function values for conversion into a binary code.

A method of providing a device having a physical unclonable function, the method comprising:

• providing an integrated circuit comprising a semiconducting material;
• performing a laser anneal on a portion of the semiconducting material to increase a variability of at least one property of the portion of the semiconducting material;
• measuring the at least one property of the portion of the semiconducting material for deriving a signature having one or more physical unclonable function values;
• and
• deriving a binary key from the signature, wherein the binary key is derived by applying a threshold to the one or more physical unclonable function values for conversion into a binary code.

A device having a physical unclonable function, the device comprising:

• an integrated circuit;
• a semiconducting material in at least one via in a backend of the integrated circuit, the semiconducting material forming at least one structure representing the physical unclonable function;
• a measurement circuit that measures at least one property of the semiconducting material for deriving a signature having one or more physical unclonable function values;
• and
• a key derivation mechanism that derives a binary key from the signature by applying a threshold to the one or more physical unclonable function values for conversion into a binary code.