Publicação
Design of a PUF in 600-nm IGZO-TFT Flex-ICs for Secure IoT Applications
| Resumo: | This thesis presents an innovative Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) implemented in 600 nm Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (IGZO) Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) technology, fabri- cated on Flexible Integrated Circuits (FlexICs). The proposed architecture takes advantage of device level randomness to produce distinct and repeatable digital responses by utilizing the intrinsic Threshold Voltage (Vth) variability of IGZO TFTs as a physical entropy source. Oxide TFTs, as opposed to conventional Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)-based implementations, enable compatibility with low temperature, large area and mechanically flexible substrates. This approach is particularly well suited for the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronic systems. The circuit architecture is based on a differential current comparison mechanism, where two transistor arrays are sequentially evaluated and their discharge characteristics are compared to produce a digital output. Cadence Virtuoso transient simulations were statistically modeled using the experimentally extracted Vth distributions from manu- factured IGZO TFT matrices. This allowed for precise analysis of entropy quality and robustness. Nine National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-22 statis- tical test suites were successfully passed by the resultant bitstreams, demonstrating high entropy and consistent randomness across several simulated instances. Additionally, transient noise simulations were performed to assess stability under process and environmental fluctuations. The bitstream demonstrated a Bit Error Ratio (BER) below 0.4% at the optimal comparator threshold. Overall, the proposed IGZO-TFT PUF demonstrates that thin-film oxide electronics can serve as a foundation for intrinsic, low cost and hardware-based security primitives, suitable for secure identification in flexible and large area electronic systems. |
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| Autores principais: | Martins, Tiago Alexandre Micaelo |
| Assunto: | Bit Error Ratio (BER) Flexible Integrated Circuit (FlexICs) Hardware Security Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (IGZO) Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Resumo: | This thesis presents an innovative Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) implemented in 600 nm Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (IGZO) Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) technology, fabri- cated on Flexible Integrated Circuits (FlexICs). The proposed architecture takes advantage of device level randomness to produce distinct and repeatable digital responses by utilizing the intrinsic Threshold Voltage (Vth) variability of IGZO TFTs as a physical entropy source. Oxide TFTs, as opposed to conventional Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)-based implementations, enable compatibility with low temperature, large area and mechanically flexible substrates. This approach is particularly well suited for the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronic systems. The circuit architecture is based on a differential current comparison mechanism, where two transistor arrays are sequentially evaluated and their discharge characteristics are compared to produce a digital output. Cadence Virtuoso transient simulations were statistically modeled using the experimentally extracted Vth distributions from manu- factured IGZO TFT matrices. This allowed for precise analysis of entropy quality and robustness. Nine National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-22 statis- tical test suites were successfully passed by the resultant bitstreams, demonstrating high entropy and consistent randomness across several simulated instances. Additionally, transient noise simulations were performed to assess stability under process and environmental fluctuations. The bitstream demonstrated a Bit Error Ratio (BER) below 0.4% at the optimal comparator threshold. Overall, the proposed IGZO-TFT PUF demonstrates that thin-film oxide electronics can serve as a foundation for intrinsic, low cost and hardware-based security primitives, suitable for secure identification in flexible and large area electronic systems. |
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