Structural color‐based physical unclonable function

Abstract Commodity fraud poses significant economic and public health risks while jeopardizing market stability. A promising avenue for addressing this issue involves the incorporation of physical unclonable function (PUF) in anti‐counterfeiting labels for commodity authentication purposes. PUFs are a large number of unbreakable security labels generated through a random process, which exhibit unique physical pattern responses that are impervious to replication. In particular, a novel kind of a PUF model, called structural color‐based PUFs, combing the structural color characteristics of angle‐dependent stability and brightness with unclonable property, offers unassailable encryption capabilities and serves as a formidable safeguard against forgery. This review undertakes a comprehensive summary of recent advancements in PUF technology leveraging structural color materials. Moreover, it provides a systematic description of the recognition and authentication technology employed in optical structural color PUFs. Finally, a prospective summary and outlook is proposed to explain existing challenges, and highlight potential developments in anti‐counterfeiting technology incorporating structural color PUF labels.