Ultra‐Durable Information‐Encoded Anti‐Counterfeiting Self‐Assembled Nanocrystal Labels

Abstract Forgery, a serious universal problem, is causing huge economic losses every year. Against forgery, information‐encoded labelling systems have attracted significant attention for a diverse range of anti‐counterfeiting applications. Here, cost‐effective and ultra‐durable nanocrystal‐based labels are proposed and demonstrated in which information can be encoded as physically unclonable functions (PUFs) of hardware‐oriented security systems. The fabrication method of the PUFs is based on the self‐assembly of colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) and generation of unclonable features within their pattern at a liquid–liquid interface. These CQW PUFs are analyzed with well‐known statistical tests, which show a uniqueness level of 0.5060 ± 0.0323 and prove their randomness. In addition, a feature‐matching algorithm is used to authenticate these information‐encoded CQW PUFs. For the safety of the semiconductor chips, a CQW PUF is attached to the surface of the chip to protect against hardware cyber‐attacks. Eventually, fabricated labels are examined against high temperatures and moisture environments. The fabricated CQW label is durable for a period of 150 days it is tested, demonstrating ultra‐high stability of the label. High stability and durability, cost‐effectiveness, and high encoding capacity make these proposed nanocrystal labels extremely attractive for large‐scale commercialization.