Search

This paper presents a method for hardware trojan detection in integrated circuits. Unsupervised deep learning is used to classify wide field-of-view (4x4 mm$^2$), high spatial resolution magnetic field images taken using a Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM). QDM magnetic imaging is enhanced using quantum control techniques and improved diamond material to increase magnetic field sensitivity by a factor of 4 and measurement speed by a factor of 16 over previous demonstrations. These upgrades facilitate the first demonstration of QDM magnetic field measurement for hardware trojan detection. Unsupervised convolutional neural networks and clustering are used to infer trojan presence from unlabeled data sets of 600x600 pixel magnetic field images without human bias. This analysis is shown to be more accurate than principal component analysis for distinguishing between field programmable gate arrays configured with trojan free and trojan inserted logic. This framework is tested on a set of scalable trojans that we developed and measured with the QDM. Scalable and TrustHub trojans are detectable down to a minimum trojan trigger size of 0.5% of the total logic. The trojan detection framework can be used for golden-chip free detection, since knowledge of the chips' identities is only used to evaluate detection accuracy, Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures

Semiconductor innovation drives improvements to technologies that are critical to modern society. The country that successfully accelerates semiconductor innovation is positioned to lead future semiconductor-driven industries and benefit from the resulting economic growth. It is our view that a next generation infrastructure is necessary to accelerate and enhance semiconductor innovation in the U.S. In this paper, we propose such an advanced infrastructure composed of a national network of facilities with enhancements in technology and business models. These enhancements enable application-driven and challenge-based research and development, and ensure that facilities are accessible and sustainable. The main tenets are: a challenge-driven operational model, a next-generation infrastructure to serve that operational model, technology innovations needed for advanced facilities to speed up learning cycles, and innovative cost-effective business models for sustainability. Ultimately, the expected outcomes of such a participatory, scalable, and sustainable nation-level advanced infrastructure will have tremendous impact on government, industry, and academia alike.

The adoption of 3D packaging technology necessitates the development of new approaches to failure electronic device analysis. To that end, our team is developing a tool called the quantum diamond microscope (QDM) that leverages an ensemble of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, achieving vector magnetic imaging with a wide field-of-view and high spatial resolution under ambient conditions. Here, we present the QDM measurement of 2D current distributions in an 8-nm flip chip IC and 3D current distributions in a multi-layer PCB. Magnetic field emanations from the C4 bumps in the flip chip dominate the QDM measurements, but these prove to be useful for image registration and can be subtracted to resolve adjacent current traces in the die at the micron scale. Vias in 3D ICs display only Bx and By magnetic fields due to their vertical orientation and are difficult to detect with magnetometers that only measure the Bz component (orthogonal to the IC surface). Using the multi-layer PCB, we show that the QDM's ability to simultaneously measure Bx, By, and Bz is advantageous for resolving magnetic fields from vias as current passes between layers. We also show how spacing between conducting layers is determined by magnetic field images and how it agrees with the design specifications of the PCB. In our initial efforts to provide further z-depth information for current sources in complex 3D circuits, we show how magnetic field images of individual layers can be subtracted from the magnetic field image of the total structure. This allows for isolation of signal layers and can be used to map embedded current paths via solution of the 2D magnetic inverse. In addition, the paper also discusses the use of neural networks to identify 2D current distributions and its potential for analyzing 3D structures.

Current density distributions in active integrated circuits (ICs) result in patterns of magnetic fields that contain structural and functional information about the IC. Magnetic fields pass through standard materials used by the semiconductor industry and provide a powerful means to fingerprint IC activity for security and failure analysis applications. Here, we demonstrate high spatial resolution, wide field-of-view, vector magnetic field imaging of static (DC) magnetic field emanations from an IC in different active states using a Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM). The QDM employs a dense layer of fluorescent nitrogen-vacancy (NV) quantum defects near the surface of a transparent diamond substrate placed on the IC to image magnetic fields. We show that QDM imaging achieves simultaneous $\sim10$ $\mu$m resolution of all three vector magnetic field components over the 3.7 mm $\times$ 3.7 mm field-of-view of the diamond. We study activity arising from spatially-dependent current flow in both intact and decapsulated field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and find that QDM images can determine pre-programmed IC active states with high fidelity using machine-learning classification methods., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

We provide an overview of the experimental techniques, measurement modalities, and diverse applications of the Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM). The QDM employs a dense layer of fluorescent nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers near the surface of a transparent diamond chip on which a sample of interest is placed. NV electronic spins are coherently probed with microwaves and optically initialized and read out to provide spatially resolved maps of local magnetic fields. NV fluorescence is measured simultaneously across the diamond surface, resulting in a wide-field, two-dimensional magnetic field image with adjustable spatial pixel size set by the parameters of the imaging system. NV measurement protocols are tailored for imaging of broadband and narrowband fields, from DC to GHz frequencies. Here we summarize the physical principles common to diverse implementations of the QDM and review example applications of the technology in geoscience, biology, and materials science.