Multispectral quantum dot tags for advanced anticounterfeiting applications
Multispectral quantum dot tags for advanced anticounterfeiting applications
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) based on nanophotonic materials offer a promising route toward secure and tamper-resistant authentication. Here, we introduce a quantum dots (QDs)-driven optical fingerprinting (identifier) platform that utilizes four distinct photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks generated from two cadmium-free CIS/ZnS QDs formulations deposited side-by-side. Under multiwavelength excitation, each of them exhibits a dual-peak emission response, yielding a combined four-peak, multiexcitation spectral profile. By extracting the wavelength, full width at half-maximum, and intensity from each peak across nine excitation wavelengths, we obtain 108 independent spectral features, which are converted into a 216-bit binary fingerprint. This work incorporates a features fusion strategy that compresses multidimensional spectral descriptors into compact, discriminative digital features, enabling stable, high-entropy encoding from complex PL emission behavior. Comprehensive statistical analysis demonstrates strong uniqueness with a mean inter-Hamming distance of 0.512 ± 0.028, a wide collision margin of 99−123 differing bits, and repeatability with near-zero intra-tag variation. Bit-level randomness metrics confirm near-ideal statistical behavior after binarization. The four-peaks architecture therefore represents a significant advancement over single-peak or dual-peaks luminescent PUFs, enabling dense, high-entropy fingerprints from cadmium-free materials while remaining compatible with typical readout hardware. This work establishes a foundation for next-generation optical authentication technologies using multipeak QDs emitters.
Nanomaterials, Optical PUFs, Photoluminescence, Quantum Dots, Security
7182-7194
Ali, Syeda Ramsha
fee21608-e81d-46ae-b5a7-2b571b7f442e
Guo, Yueyu
6ca2713f-d0bf-4364-b957-4485136fef73
Sarkar, Soumya
59162fff-5063-4de9-8f39-689d84a6f54f
de Groot, Kees
92cd2e02-fcc4-43da-8816-c86f966be90c
Abdelazim, Nema M.
2ac8bd5e-cbf1-4d9a-adcb-65dedf244b9b
24 April 2026
Ali, Syeda Ramsha
fee21608-e81d-46ae-b5a7-2b571b7f442e
Guo, Yueyu
6ca2713f-d0bf-4364-b957-4485136fef73
Sarkar, Soumya
59162fff-5063-4de9-8f39-689d84a6f54f
de Groot, Kees
92cd2e02-fcc4-43da-8816-c86f966be90c
Abdelazim, Nema M.
2ac8bd5e-cbf1-4d9a-adcb-65dedf244b9b
Ali, Syeda Ramsha, Guo, Yueyu, Sarkar, Soumya, de Groot, Kees and Abdelazim, Nema M.
(2026)
Multispectral quantum dot tags for advanced anticounterfeiting applications.
ACS Applied Nano Materials, 9 (16), .
(doi:10.1021/acsanm.6c00386).
Abstract
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) based on nanophotonic materials offer a promising route toward secure and tamper-resistant authentication. Here, we introduce a quantum dots (QDs)-driven optical fingerprinting (identifier) platform that utilizes four distinct photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks generated from two cadmium-free CIS/ZnS QDs formulations deposited side-by-side. Under multiwavelength excitation, each of them exhibits a dual-peak emission response, yielding a combined four-peak, multiexcitation spectral profile. By extracting the wavelength, full width at half-maximum, and intensity from each peak across nine excitation wavelengths, we obtain 108 independent spectral features, which are converted into a 216-bit binary fingerprint. This work incorporates a features fusion strategy that compresses multidimensional spectral descriptors into compact, discriminative digital features, enabling stable, high-entropy encoding from complex PL emission behavior. Comprehensive statistical analysis demonstrates strong uniqueness with a mean inter-Hamming distance of 0.512 ± 0.028, a wide collision margin of 99−123 differing bits, and repeatability with near-zero intra-tag variation. Bit-level randomness metrics confirm near-ideal statistical behavior after binarization. The four-peaks architecture therefore represents a significant advancement over single-peak or dual-peaks luminescent PUFs, enabling dense, high-entropy fingerprints from cadmium-free materials while remaining compatible with typical readout hardware. This work establishes a foundation for next-generation optical authentication technologies using multipeak QDs emitters.
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multispectral-quantum-dot-tags-for-advanced-anticounterfeiting-applications
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 29 March 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 April 2026
Published date: 24 April 2026
Keywords:
Nanomaterials, Optical PUFs, Photoluminescence, Quantum Dots, Security
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511850
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511850
ISSN: 2574-0970
PURE UUID: 9f6a4585-9559-45f9-b50f-444307aa50a4
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Date deposited: 08 Jun 2026 16:38
Last modified: 09 Jun 2026 02:12
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Contributors
Author:
Syeda Ramsha Ali
Author:
Yueyu Guo
Author:
Soumya Sarkar
Author:
Nema M. Abdelazim
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