Scalable Quantum Device Authentication Using Hardware-Efficient Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions

The rapid development of quantum computing has increased the need for reliable methods to authenticate quantum devices and ensure that only genuine systems participate in computations. Existing approaches often rely on quantum memory or are not easily adaptable to different hardware platforms, which limits their practicality as quantum processors continue to grow in size and complexity. We propose a new Quantum Physical Unclonable Function scheme that exploits the intrinsic noise of Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum devices while avoiding the need for quantum memory. The method employs a quantum circuit designed to capture device-specific noise efficiently without adding unnecessary complexity, making it suitable for larger processors and a variety of quantum hardware. The scheme implements a challenge-response protocol and is evaluated on real IBM quantum processors using up to 32 qubits, significantly more than the small systems typically considered in previous studies. We measure instability and uniqueness, showing a clear separation between responses from the same device and those from different devices. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach is scalable, practical, and capable of providing robust authentication for current and future quantum devices.