OptiSecure – Securing Nano-Circuits against Optical Probing

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Optical probing enables the contactless extraction of secret information from integrated nano-circuits and has been successfully applied on several secure circuits. Despite the severe implications of this type of passive attack, no relevant countermeasures are being deployed so far. Positioned in Area 1 (Nano-electronics for security) and the interdisciplinary group IG3 (Resilience against physical attacks) of the matrix of this call, the project at hand aims at investigating methods that enable the protection of future integrated nano-circuits against optical probing attacks. To this end, a technology model for the exploration of the relation between geometrical characteristics of the integrated devices and its susceptibility to optical probing attacks shall be derived. At the same time, it shall be investigated how alternative logic styles and design methodologies can contribute as countermeasures against this kind of passive attack. Furthermore, new kinds of similar optical attacks shall be developed and evaluated in terms of its threat potential. Finally, several test structures and its hardened counterparts shall be integrated in a physical circuit and extensively tested.