Solution-Processed Carbon Nanotube True Random Number Generator

Nano Letters

rapid-communication

Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society

Abstract

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With the growing adoption of interconnected electronic devices in consumer and industrial applications, there is an increasing demand for robust security protocols when transmitting and receiving sensitive data. Toward this end, hardware true random number generators (TRNGs), commonly used to create encryption keys, offer significant advantages over software pseudorandom number generators. However, the vast network of devices and sensors envisioned for the “Internet of Things” will require small, low-cost, and mechanically flexible TRNGs with low computational complexity. These rigorous constraints position solution-processed semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as leading candidates for next-generation security devices. Here, we demonstrate the first TRNG using static random access memory (SRAM) cells based on solution-processed SWCNTs that digitize thermal noise to generate random bits. This bit generation strategy can be readily implemented in hardware with minimal transistor and computational overhead, resulting in an output stream that passes standardized statistical tests for randomness. By using solution-processed semiconducting SWCNTs in a low-power, complementary architecture to achieve TRNG, we demonstrate a promising approach for improving the security of printable and flexible electronics.

The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02118.

• Methods; SWCNT SRAM TRNG skew control; table of bits collected from SWCNT SRAM devices following postprocessing; brief overview of select NIST statistical tests; table of TestU01 results; figures of NIST STS randomness testing on a representative sample of raw bits (PDF)

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Cite this: Nano Lett. 2017, 17, 8

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