Analysis of SRAM PUF Integrity Under Ionizing Radiation: Effects of Stored Data and Technology Node

Power-up states of static random access memory (SRAM) chips are routinely used to derive their physical unclonable functions (PUFs). Radiation effects on the integrity of SRAM PUFs have recently gained significant attention. This article demonstrates experimentally that the data stored in SRAM during irradiation impact the integrity of SRAM PUFs. Next, the SRAM-PUFs derived from chips manufactured using smaller technology nodes appear to be more robust to the effects of radiation. Consequently, the selection of a family of SRAM chips and their predeployment characterization to inform how SRAM cells should be primed during irradiation can help improve the integrity of SRAM PUFs.