This presentation demonstrates how Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy provides unique information to identify suspect counterfeit semiconductor devices. An example is shown where the epitaxial layers of a light emitting device (LED) do not match those of the exemplar. Keywords: Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy, SIMS, counterfeit detection, LED, Light emitting diode.

As counterfeiting techniques and processes grow in sophistication, the methods needed to detect these parts must keep pace. This has the unfortunate effect of raising the costs associated with managing this risk. In order to ensure that the resources devoted to counterfeit detection are commensurate with the potential effects and likelihood of counterfeit part usage in a particular application, a risk based methodology has been adopted for testing of electrical, electronic, and electromechanical (EEE) parts by the SAE AS6171 set of standards. This paper provides an overview of the risk assessment methodology employed within AS6171 to determine the testing that should be utilized to manage the risk associated with the use of a part. A scenario is constructed as a case study to illustrate how multiple solutions exist to address the risk for a particular situation, and the choice of any specific test plan can be made on the basis of practical considerations, such as cost, time, or the availability of particular test equipment.

Counterfeit electronics constitute a fast-growing threat to global supply chains as well as national security. With rapid globalization, the supply chain is growing more and more complex with components coming from a diverse set of suppliers. Counterfeiters are taking advantage of this complexity and replacing original parts with fake ones. Moreover, counterfeit integrated circuits (ICs) may contain circuit modifications that cause security breaches. Out of all types of counterfeit ICs, recycled and remarked ICs are the most common. Over the past few years, a plethora of counterfeit IC detection methods have been created; however, most of these methods are manual and require highly-skilled subject matter experts (SME). In this paper, an automated bent and corroded pin detection methodology using image processing is proposed to identify recycled ICs. Here, depth map of images acquired using an optical microscope are used to detect bent pins, and segmented side view pin images are used to detect corroded pins.

This paper explains the CLSM technique and presents surface roughness measurement data from several groups of known authentic and suspect counterfeit parts. Surface roughness is an important characteristic of plastic encapsulated or metal lidded parts because counterfeit parts are often blacktopped or re-polished and remarked.

In this work, we introduce the use of the x-ray image as the unique fingerprint for an electronic component or printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). Unique features of the x-ray image include solder voids, cracks, part alignment, die attach porosity and voiding, die placement and alignment, and wire bonding diagram. These are just a few of the many features in the x-ray image that can be used in tandem to create a unique fingerprint for a single component or an entire PCBA. This technique can also be expanded to mechanical objects by utilizing other idiosyncratic features of the part - such as voids and porosity - to generate the x-ray image fingerprint.

We present a new, non-destructive electrical technique, Power Spectrum Analysis (PSA). PSA as described here uses off-normal biasing, an unconventional way of powering microelectronics devices. PSA with off-normal biasing can be used to detect subtle differences between microelectronic devices. These differences, in many cases, cannot be detected by conventional electrical testing. In this paper, we highlight PSA applications related to aging and counterfeit detection.

Battelle has developed a technology to nondestructively classify electronic components as authentic or counterfeit. The technology uses a method that creates feature vectors for each class of devices using a reconfigurable side channel power analysis test fixture. This test fixture monitors the power fluctuations of the device either via connection to a power or a ground pin while test signals are sent to the device. Power waveforms are processed, undergo dimensionality reduction techniques, and the resultant data is plotted in Principal Component Analysis (PCA) space to reveal information related to the authenticity of the device under test. To scale this technology to the full catalog of parts available to a production test house, unique tools have been created that provide automated test generation and scoring of feature vectors.

The Society of Aerospace Engineers (SAE) AS6171 Aerospace Standard standardizes the test and inspection procedures, workmanship criteria, and minimum training and certification requirements to detect counterfeit electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts. The standard comes in response to a significant and increasing volume of counterfeit electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts entering the supply chain. This short manuscript and its accompanying talk update the audience on the risk based methodology for detecting potential counterfeiting related defects. The techniques that are discussed in AS6171 slash sheet include film radiography and filmless radiography such as digital radiography, real time radiography, and computed tomography. The analysis is performed on parts to verify that the internal package or die construction is consistent with an exemplar item. AS6171 will provide the counterfeit detection community with standardized test and inspection procedures, workmanship criteria, and minimum training and certification requirements to detect counterfeit electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts.

X-ray tomography is a promising technique that can provide micron level, internal structure, and three dimensional (3D) information of an integrated circuit (IC) component without the need for serial sectioning or decapsulation. This is especially useful for counterfeit IC detection as demonstrated by recent work. Although the components remain physically intact during tomography, the effect of radiation on the electrical functionality is not yet fully investigated. In this paper we analyze the impact of X-ray tomography on the reliability of ICs with different fabrication technologies. We perform a 3D imaging using an advanced X-ray machine on Intel flash memories, Macronix flash memories, Xilinx Spartan 3 and Spartan 6 FPGAs. Electrical functionalities are then tested in a systematic procedure after each round of tomography to estimate the impact of X-ray on Flash erase time, read margin, and program operation, and the frequencies of ring oscillators in the FPGAs. A major finding is that erase times for flash memories of older technology are significantly degraded when exposed to tomography, eventually resulting in failure. However, the flash and Xilinx FPGAs of newer technologies seem less sensitive to tomography, as only minor degradations are observed. Further, we did not identify permanent failures for any chips in the time needed to perform tomography for counterfeit detection (approximately 2 hours).

Reverse engineering of electronics systems is performed for various reasons ranging from honest ones such as failure analysis, fault isolation, trustworthiness verification, obsolescence management, etc. to dishonest ones such as cloning, counterfeiting, identification of vulnerabilities, development of attacks, etc. Regardless of the goal, it is imperative that the research community understands the requirements, complexities, and limitations of reverse engineering. Until recently, the reverse engineering was considered as destructive, time consuming, and prohibitively expensive, thereby restricting its application to a few remote cases. However, the advents of advanced characterization and imaging tools and software have counteracted this point of view. In this paper, we show how X-ray micro-tomography imaging can be combined with advanced 3D image processing and analysis to facilitate the automation of reverse engineering, and thereby lowering the associated time and cost. In this paper, we demonstrate our proposed process on two different printed circuit boards (PCBs). The first PCB is a four-layer custom designed board while the latter is a more complex commercial system. Lessons learned from this effort can be used to both develop advanced countermeasures and establish a more efficient workflow for instances where reverse engineering is deemed necessary. Keywords: Printed circuit boards, non-destructive imaging, X-ray tomography, reverse engineering.

This presentation is chronologically-progressive to the author's ISTFA Keynote given in 2010: "Counterfeiters' Techniques: Constantly Improving to Avoid Detection - National Security Depends on Us to Keep Up". It shares, in detail, the forensic test methodologies utilized by SMT and ultimately the research breakthroughs which gave the labs crystal-clear insight into the counterfeiters specific step-by-step rework process. The presentation includes all forensic work utilized in exposing the "Micro-blast" & "Flat-Lap" counterfeit processes identified at SMT labs during 2011, as well as unpublished novel process threats and refinements identified in 2013 & 2014. It also covers the counterfeit mitigation work that SMT supported with the GAO and Senate Armed Services Committee's investigation into counterfeits within DoD supply chains during the 2011-2012 time period.

The entire electronics industry is now facing a much more insidious counterfeit threat than at any time in the past. The existence of cloned electronic components bearing the markings of major component manufacturers in today’s global supply chains has been clearly established within SMT’s labs over the past 3 years. The most worrisome aspect of these “made from scratch” fakes is their ability to easily pass current Industry-Standard counterfeit inspection processes and electrical testing to the manufacturers’ data sheet. My presentation will focus on several actual examples of this most concerning advanced counterfeiter capability and some of the processes utilized by SMT as an obsolescence component supplier and testing lab to mitigate this new and growing threat from making it to our OEM & CM customers.

In this paper, we discuss a set of techniques and analysis methodologies for the reverse engineering and functionality extraction of complex mixed-signal ICs with a special focus for security applications. Front and back side reflected light pattern images at different magnifications are used to identify circuit blocks. Time-integrated and time-resolved photon emission data is used to identify gate logic states, sequences of events, and specific functional activity. Backscattered electron and scanning transmission electron images mosaics are used to reverse engineer individual gates and observe local interconnects. Thermal imaging is used to aid in the functional block identification and analog gates analysis. Different advanced methodologies for tool automation, focusing, mapping, and image processing are also discussed in the context of our proposed electro-optical tester based technique.

The drive towards miniaturization has created increasing challenges to the overall failure analysis and quality inspection of electronic devices. This trend has equally challenged the image quality of x-ray inspection systems – engineers need to see more details in each inspection. Image quality is paramount to the ability of making actionable decisions on the information acquired from an x-ray machine. Previous generations of x-ray technologies have focused on hardware improvements – better x-ray sources and better x-ray sensors. Although further improvements can still be achieved in hardware, our focus will be on the latest wave of technology breakthroughs and innovation in radiography systems: algorithms.

The most common methodologies for determining whether a component should be judged suspect counterfeit, or not, rely on visual examination, electrical test, and X-ray examinations. While these are commonly sufficient at such determinations, more thorough examinations may be pursued - in particular materials characterizations. In this paper, examples are given in which such “non-standard” methods are employed. Additionally, the results of an investigation as to the applicability of such methods towards detection of surface alteration to facilitate repackaging are described.

Possible methods for counterfeit electronic part detection can be classified into two main categories: physical inspection and electrical testing. The physical inspection techniques can potentially be extended to different integrated circuit (IC) types; however, there are some challenges. The major contribution of this paper is to tackle these issues by introducing and optimizing two novel three and four dimensional imaging techniques that can provide us with the necessary information on interior and exterior geometry along with the material composition for the parts under test: four-dimensional scanning electron microscopy and dual energy 3D x-ray microscopy. In this study, advanced image processing and image analysis tools are utilized to establish a more consistent and accurate image perception. Inconsistencies within the samples and their defects are also used as an alternative to having a golden IC. However, the final decision has further been validated using results from five known authentic samples.