Semiconductor Device with Back Side Protection Mechanism

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This invention describes a semiconductor device with an integrated back side protection mechanism. The device consists of two bonded semiconductor layers: a protection body and a circuit body. The protection body contains light emitters and a light-absorbing region, while the circuit body contains light detectors. The device continuously monitors the integrity of the backside using optical signals—if tampering or physical attacks alter the optical path, the device detects it and can raise an alert, providing enhanced security against invasive attacks and side-channel attacks, particularly from the back side of the chip.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Secure smartcards for payment, identification, or authentication systems
• Automotive electronics where tamper-resistance is crucial
• Banking and financial transaction devices requiring hardware-level security
• Military or defense hardware demanding enhanced physical security for secure microcontrollers or processors
• Secure communication terminals protecting cryptographic keys and processes
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices that require physical security against hardware hacks
• Any integrated circuit (IC) application vulnerable to invasive or optical hacking methods

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Provides active and highly sensitive detection against physical and optical tampering, especially from the chip's back side
• Enhances resistance against side-channel attacks and invasive hardware attacks
• Can be integrated using established semiconductor manufacturing processes
• Prevents attackers from bypassing security by directly accessing the circuit from the back side
• Allows for unique device identification through physical unclonable functions (PUFs) based on interface roughness
• Does not restrict the main circuit's functionality or require extensive alterations to existing IC architectures
• Improves safety in critical applications by allowing real-time monitoring and active responses to tampering threats

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a semiconductor device (100) comprising: a substrate stack (122) comprising two permanently bonded semiconductor bodies (102, 104), which are stacked in a depth direction that points perpendicularly from a front side (108) towards a back side (110) of the substrate stack, and which share a buried bonding interface (106) that extends at a respective distance from the front side and the back side and substantially parallel thereto; wherein: - a first of the two semiconductor bodies, hereinafter the protection body (104), comprises an active region (113) with one or more light emitters (112) at the buried bonding interface, and a light absorption region (114), which follows the active region in the depth direction and is opaque for light emitted from the one or more light emitters; - a second of the two semiconductor bodies, hereinafter the circuit body (102), extends from the buried bonding interface to the front side of the substrate stack, is transmissive for the light emitted from the one or more light emitters, and comprises at least one light detector (118, 120) at the front side of the substrate stack, which is configured provide a detector signal indicative of a detected light intensity of light emitted from the one or more light emitters and transmitted through the circuit body. The semiconductor device (100) further comprises a driver unit that is configured to drive operation of the light emitters using predetermined operation parameters.