Injection-Molded Physical Unclonable Function
A physical unclonable function is disclosed. A highly random distribution of magnetic particles within a thermoplastic polymer is created by magnetizing magnetizable particles in solid pellet feed material before feeding the solid pellets into an injection molding machine. Other devices and processes are disclosed.
1 . A physical unclonable function comprising:
a thermoplastic polymer;
pre-magnetized particles dispersed in the thermoplastic polymer;
wherein the pre-magnetized particles are randomly distributed and randomly oriented in the thermoplastic polymer.
2 . The physical unclonable function of claim 1 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain neodymium, iron, and boron.
3 . The physical unclonable function of claim 1 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain samarium and cobalt.
4 . The physical unclonable function of claim 1 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are between ten and twenty percent, inclusive, of the total weight.
5 . The physical unclonable function of claim 1 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are flakes.
6 . The physical unclonable function of claim 1 , further comprising a non-volatile memory containing data related to the physical unclonable function.
7 . A solid pellet feed material for manufacturing a physical unclonable function comprising:
a thermoplastic polymer;
magnetizable particles dispersed in the thermoplastic polymer;
wherein the magnetizable particles in the solid pellet feed material are pre-magnetized before molding the physical unclonable function in order to randomly distribute and randomly orient the pre-magnetized particles in the thermoplastic polymer.
8 . The solid pellet feed material of claim 7 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain neodymium, iron, and boron.
9 . The solid pellet feed material of claim 7 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain samarium and cobalt.
10 . The solid pellet feed material of claim 7 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are between ten and twenty percent, inclusive, of the total weight.
11 . The solid pellet feed material of claim 7 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are flakes.
12 . An injection-molded physical unclonable function comprising:
a thermoplastic polymer;
pre-magnetized particles dispersed in the thermoplastic polymer;
wherein the pre-magnetized particles are randomly distributed and randomly oriented in the thermoplastic polymer.
13 . The injection-molded physical unclonable function of claim 12 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain neodymium, iron, and boron.
14 . The injection-molded physical unclonable function of claim 12 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles contain samarium and cobalt.
15 . The injection-molded physical unclonable function of claim 12 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are between ten and twenty percent, inclusive, of the total weight.
16 . The injection-molded physical unclonable function of claim 12 , wherein the pre-magnetized particles are flakes.
17 . The injection-molded physical unclonable function of claim 12 , further comprising a non-volatile memory containing data related to the physical unclonable function