Self-Inhibit Complementary Cells by High-κ Metal Gate Transistors for Physical Unclonable Function

A complementary (PUF) cell for realizing physical unclonable function arrays is proposed and implemented by nano-meter-scale CMOS logic processes. This new PUF cell creates random data based on arbitrary breakdowns on either side of the high-κ dielectric layer in a MOS transistor. Experiments suggest that the complementary PUF cells can provide stable read-out after long-term read stress. With self-inhibit scheme applied, the error of breakdown on both sides will be well prevented. Based on the breakdowns on either side of a transistor, the randomness of the data in the PUF array is further confirmed by standard randomness tests.