Secure Electronics Enabled by Atomically Thin and Photosensitive Two-Dimensional Memtransistors.

Area of Science:

• Hardware security
• Integrated circuit (IC) supply chain security
• Non-von Neumann architectures

Background:

• The increasing prevalence of security-compromised hardware in the IC supply chain presents a significant global risk to critical systems.
• Existing top-down security approaches are often inefficient, costly, and inconclusive, highlighting the need for innovative solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an energy and area-efficient hardware platform for comprehensive, bottom-up IC security.
• To leverage the unique properties of 2D memtransistors for robust security primitives.

Main Methods:

• Utilized atomically thin two-dimensional memtransistors with inherent device-to-device variation, electrical programmability, and persistent photoconductivity.
• Implemented a non-von Neumann hardware architecture for enhanced efficiency.
• Developed diverse security primitives including physically unclonable functions, anticounterfeit measures, IP watermarking, and IC camouflaging.

Main Results:

• Successfully realized diverse security primitives on the novel hardware platform.
• Demonstrated effective prevention of false authentication, detection of recycled/remarked ICs, protection against IP theft, and mitigation of reverse engineering.
• Achieved energy and area efficiency in the proposed security solutions.

Conclusions:

• The developed 2D memtransistor-based non-von Neumann platform offers a promising and efficient approach to securing the IC supply chain.
• This bottom-up strategy effectively addresses limitations of traditional security methods, enhancing IC reliability and protecting intellectual property.