Heavy ion-induced microdose effects on the reliability of planar and FinFET-based SRAM physical unclonable functions

Abstract

The static random-access memory (SRAM) physical unclonable function (PUF) uses the power-up states of stored values to derive the identification code. Its lightweight circuit design makes it suitable for power-sensitive satellites. However, the SRAM PUF is significantly affected by high-energy particles and cosmic rays in space, which causes incorrect output of identity authentication codes and further leading to a degradation in reliability. Recently, the main research works are concerned about the impact of cosmic rays induced total ionizing dose effects on the SRAM PUF, and few reports discuss the high-energy particles induced single event effects on the SRAM PUF. This paper presents the reliability results of planar and FinFET-based SRAM PUFs after high-energy heavy ion experiments. Experimental results indicate that 3%–10% of the SRAM PUF bits change from their original power-on states, which demonstrate that ion-induced microdose effects degrade the reliability of SRAM PUFs. In addition, the three-dimensional technology computer-aided design simulation tool is used to analyze the physical mechanisms of the experimental phenomena. Simulation results show that the heavy ion-induced microdose effect ionizes and produces trapped charges at the silicon/insulation interface, which causes a slight change in transistor leakage current or a slight drift in threshold voltage. The physical mechanisms lead to an off-state current mismatch in the SRAM cell and finally affect the stored values after power-on.