Chaotic Polarization Pattern‐Based Optical PUF for Tri‐Modal Authentication Application

Abstract Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) offer a promising solution for Internet of Things (IoT) security, yet most optical PUFs are limited to rigid binary authentication. To address this, a novel optical PUF based on chaotic polarization patterns from self‐assembled Diethyl 2,5‐dihydroxoterephthalate (DDT) crystals grown on flexible, large‐area MoS 2 films is introduced. By harnessing the unique polarized photoluminescence (PL) from the random crystal domains, a tri‐modal authentication scheme is demonstrated that provides enhanced security resolution. From the polarized PL images, a 1024‐bit key is extracted and analyzed. The system yields three statistically distinct and clearly separable Hamming distance distributions: intra‐HD (0.0157 ± 0.0061), mutual‐HD (0.2540 ± 0.0229), and inter‐HD (0.4986 ± 0.0149). This tri‐modal verification goes beyond a simple accept/reject decision, offering a more nuanced and robust authentication framework. The PUF exhibits excellent randomness, passing NIST statistical test. The practicality of this approach is further showcased through a proof‐of‐concept smartphone application. This work establishes a new paradigm for flexible, high‐security optical PUFs, holding significant promise for next‐generation IoT and authentication applications.