THz Assisted Counterfeit Detection

Detection of packaged counterfeit electronics using THz spectroscopy is introduced by the research group led by Dr. Anwar.  The process does not require any “golden IC” for authentication and the IC need not be powered up.

The  Back Referenced THz Imaging for Counterfeit Detection, takes  Five spot measurements both on  the front and back sides of the packaged IC. This results in the typical THz spectroscopy pattern showing reflections from the surface and from the package-IC interface.  The extracted refractive indices of the front  surface w.r.t. the back surface or the back-referenced refractive index, ∆n, is extremely sensitive to any difference between the two surface in terms of (a) material properties – presence of any foreign material and (b) thicknesses of the front and back surfaces from the IC-interfaces.

With the front and back surfaces going through the same package processing steps and with the die located equidistant    from the surfaces should result in a vanishing ∆n, something that we observe in the top trace allowing us to conclude that    the inspected package is authentic.  Similar measurement on a counterfeit IC package results in the red trace with non-zero ∆n.

The back-referenced refractive indices of the front surface provides a unique, fast and reliable mechanism for the identification of counterfeit ICs.  Note, THz absorption characteristics do not contain any unique signatures allowing differentiation between authentic and counterfeit electronics.  It is anticipated that a hand-held THz source programmed to extract ∆n will allow a quick determination of counterfeit electronic parts.

Additionally, the use of advanced imaging techniques have allowed us enhance the resolution of THz imaging providing a non-destructive means to investigate packaged ICs.

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