Sensitivity tuning of a bulk built-in current sensor for optimal transient-fault detection

Jean-Max Dutertre (1) , Rodrigo Possamai Bastos (2) , Olivier Potin (3) , Marie-Lise Flottes (4) , Bruno Rouzeyre (4) , Giorgio Di Natale (4)

1 SAS-ENSMSE - Département Systèmes et Architectures Sécurisés
2 TIMA - Techniques de l'Informatique et de la Microélectronique pour l'Architecture des systèmes intégrés
3 LIRMM - Laboratoire d'Informatique de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier
4 TEST - Test and dEpendability of microelectronic integrated SysTems

Bulk Built-In Current Sensors (BBICSs) are able to detect anomalous transient currents induced in the bulk of integrated circuits when hit by ionizing particles. This paper presents a new strategy to design BBICSs with optimal transient-fault detection sensitivity while keeping low both area and power overheads. The approach allows increasing the detection sensitivity by setting an asymmetry in the flipping ability of the sensor's latch. In addition, we introduce a mechanism to tune the delay of the bulk access transistors that improves even more the BBICS detection sensitivity. The proposed design strategy offers a good compromise between fault detection sensitivity and power consumption; moreover it makes feasible the use of several CMOS processes.

Mots clés: Integrated circuit; Sensor; Security; Laser

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Jean-Max Dutertre, Rodrigo Possamai Bastos, Olivier Potin, Marie-Lise Flottes, Bruno Rouzeyre, et al.. Sensitivity tuning of a bulk built-in current sensor for optimal transient-fault detection. Microelectronics Reliability, 2013, European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, 53 (9), pp.1320-1324. ⟨10.1016/j.microrel.2013.07.069⟩. ⟨emse-01100723⟩