Cryo-HT: Hardware Trojan Activated at Cryogenic Temperatures
Ayano Takaya, Ryuichi Nakajima, Jun Shiomi, Michihiro Shintani · 2025
It is well-known that operating transistors in low-temperature environments improves their characteristics. This has led to the expansion of integrated circuit (IC) applications at low temperatures, including high-performance computers and controllers for quantum computers. On the other hand, hardware Trojans (HTs) pose a severe concern, threatening the authenticity of ICs. This study proposes a new HT circuit, referred to as Cryo-HT, that can be activated by the increased discharge time of a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor at low temperatures. We fabricated an advanced encryption standard (AES) circuit with Cryo-HT using 180 nm process technology. We demonstrate that Cryo-HT is not activated at room temperature but activates at 213 K to reveal the AES encryption key.