1. A method to authenticate an article of manufacture, the method comprising: storing at least one surface image of a reference article of manufacture, each reference surface image including a reflection of light that depends on surface height variations of a microstructure of a surface of the reference article of manufacture corresponding to the reference image, the surface height variations of the microstructure of the surface of the reference article of manufacture having a random noise characteristic or a pseudo-random noise characteristic; comparing a surface image of the article of manufacture with the at least one reference surface image; wherein the surface image of the article of manufacture used for comparison to the at least one reference surface image characterizes a reflection of light that depends on surface height variations of a microstructure of the article of manufacture having a random noise characteristic or a pseudo-random noise characteristic; and wherein a match between the surface image of the article of manufacture and a reference surface image indicates an authenticity of the article of manufacture.