CEA-Leti and Soitec partner to enhance IC security using FD-SOI technology

CEA-Leti and Soitec have announced a strategic partnership to advance the cybersecurity of integrated circuits (ICs) through fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technologies. The collaboration focuses on utilizing FD-SOI’s inherent resistance to physical attacks to establish it as a platform for secure electronics, targeting markets such as automotive, industrial IoT, and secure infrastructure.
The partnership will combine CEA-Leti’s research capabilities with Soitec’s substrate technology and GlobalFoundries’ chip manufacturing expertise to validate and enhance FD-SOI’s security features. The initiative includes experimental validation of FD-SOI’s resistance to attacks, such as laser fault injection (LFI), due to its thin-film architecture and channel isolation. The project aims to produce empirical security data, practical demonstrations, and a roadmap to meet cybersecurity demands in embedded and cyber-physical systems.
Key objectives include highlighting FD-SOI’s existing cybersecurity strengths, co-developing innovations across the substrate-design stack to improve physical robustness, and providing data to support certifications like SESIP and Common Criteria. FD-SOI’s benefits include electrical isolation for physical attack resistance, power-performance optimization for applications like automotive ECUs a...