Single-Mode Optical physical unclonable KEys (SMOKE)

The increasing complexity of digital networks on which society depends on renders these networks increasingly vulnerable to attacks. Focusing on physical layer security, we propose to develop single-spatial-mode optical Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) as an authentication solution for quantum and classical communication links. These novel PUFs are read out through standard optical fibers or free-space links. Several implementations of single-mode PUFs are proposed exploiting the time / frequency domain for the encoding challenge / response space. Together with the PUFs, we will develop tools to generate challenge-forming few-photon light pulses and to validate PUF responses at the few-photon level and take specific steps toward wide implementation.