Transistors repurposed as microchip ‘clock’ address supply chain weakness
A method of repurposing existing techniques to produce a microprocessor timing device in a standard chip fab plant could address supply chain and security weak points. (Photo courtesy of Second Bay Studios)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Microchip fab plants in the United States can cram billions of data processing transistors onto a tiny silicon chip, but a critical device, in essence a “clock,” to time the operation of those transistors must be made separately – creating a weak point in chip security and the supply line. A new approach uses commercial chip fab materials and techniques to fabricate specialized transistors that serve as the building block of this timing device, addressing the weak point and enabling new functionality through enhanced integration.
“You would have one chip that does everything instead of multiple chips, multiple fabrication methods and multiple material sets that must be integrated – often overseas,” said Dana Weinstein, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering, who is developing acoustic resonators with the processes used to produce industry-standard fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs). “There’s a need for America to advance its capabilities in chip manufacturing, and an advance of this nature addresses multiple concerns in supply chain, national security and hardware security. By moving the whole clock inside the processor, you harden the device against clock-glitching attacks, and you enable new functionality such as acoustic fingerprinting of the packaged chip for tamper detection.”
