India's Quantum Diamond Microscope detects hidden trapdoors in chips

What’s inside a D-Wave Advantage2 quantum computer? Here’s a simplified walkthrough of what’s inside this magical machine: 🐚 Outer Shell - This outer layer gives the quantum computer its sleek look while helping maintain stable temperatures, reduce environmental noise, and protect the delicate hardware inside. ❄️ Quantum Computer System - Inside is an extremely cold environment, often colder than outer space. This extreme cold is necessary to keep certain types of qubits, like superconducting circuits, stable and functional. 🏠 QPU Housing - This part connects the electronics and control systems to the quantum chip while keeping it isolated from outside interference. ⚙️ Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) - The heart of the machine. This is where qubits live and where quantum magic happens. Different companies use different types of qubits, like superconducting circuits, trapped ions, or photons. How do you think quantum computers could change the world in the next 5–10 years? - #QuantumComputing #DWave #QuantumAnnealing #Innovation #DeepTech #QPU #STEM #Quantum #Tech #Technology #Advantage2

💡 qubitsok stats + paper breakdown in Quantum Comms [11-11-2025]! Research in distributed quantum computing is surging, but none of it works without perfect synchronization. A new paper just achieved an incredible 1.15 picosecond timing resolution, a foundational step for building the quantum internet. ⏱️ 📈 Top Insights: 1. Highest Volume: Quantum Channels - 33 papers last week (vs 44 previous week; 247/180 last/previous month) 2. Biggest Jump: Secure Keys is surging with a 350% w/w increase (14% m/m increase) 3. New Activity: We saw 6 new papers on Data Protection which had zero in the previous week (vs 12 last month). 📄 Paper of the Day: Delay Time Characterization on FPGA: A Low Nonlinearity, Picosecond Resolution Time-to-Digital Converter on 16-nm FPGA using Bin Sequence Calibration by Sunwoo Park, Byungkwon Park, Eunsung Kim, et al Our pick from Quantum Comms today is a fascinating read: Researchers built a highly accurate Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) on a commercial 16-nm FPGA chip, capable of measuring time differences as small as 1.15 picoseconds (trillionths of a second). They introduced new software techniques to mathematically correct flaws inherent in the chip's design, such as 'missing codes,' which significantly improved the precision and reliability of the timing measurement. This performance is competitive with, or superior to, previous methods while using less complex hardware. Want more? I've built a system that uses 200+ quantum tags to help you (and 425+ other insiders) pick only the job offers and papers you need and delivers it to your email. No spam. Always free. Links to the paper and the filtering system are in the first comment. 👇 #qubitsok #QuantumComms #securekeys #quantumchannels #quantumcomputing #quantph #research #data #deeptech

Measurement-based Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation Achieves Gigaquop (10^9 Gates) Performance on High-Connectivity Devices Researchers have designed a new quantum error correction system that achieves significantly higher computational capacity, potentially supporting millions or even billions of operations, by streamlining the process of detecting and correcting errors in quantum computers with numerous interconnected quantum bits. #quantum #quantumcomputing #technology https://lnkd.in/eNE_FzSF

Si Based transistors pose little crunch at lower Technology nodes, to move beyond 1-nm chips, the robust 2D materials plays splendid role for high performance computing Read Full article at: https://lnkd.in/gru_7Gja

While Europe is freaking out about Chinese #buses suspected of carrying a kill switch (last stop: Beijing), there is way to prevent connected devices from being 'updated' or #hacked over-the-air. This week in NRC: a new #Dutch initiative assigns each #chip a #unique identification number, which acts as a foolproof lock for critical networks. By leveraging this, you can safeguard the electricity grid, cell towers, and other essential connected #infrastructure that remains vulnerable in a #hybrid war. At the High Tech Campus in #Eindhoven, SandGrain B.V. is developing a technique that gives each chip its own engraved identification number. A chip with a unique number guards access to the underlying electronics. Only when that number is recognized does the user gain access to the system and can, for example, install software or new firmware. No one in the entire production chain knows the key; even for SandGrain it's a secret. And even if criminals were able to circumvent the system, which according to the SandGrainers is impossible, they would only have access to one device. That makes it much more complicated to sabotage an entire network. There are other ways to give hardware its own number, such as the #PUF (physical unclonable function) in a chip design. PUF codes are not etched in, but are based on a statistical calculation in the chip design. However, this is sensitive to environmental factors, such as temperature. Moreover, that code takes up valuable space on the small chip surface. #Etching or #writing a number afterwards is, according to SandGrain, a better option. Fun fact: the PUF technique is a legacy of Philips, developed at the same High Tech Campus. Just like NXP Semiconductors, another Philips descendant, which makes secure chips using cryptography. Chips are mass-produced products; lithography systems, like ASML’s or Nikon’s, are copy machines that replicate enormous numbers of wafers with the same design. Each wafer can hold hundreds of chips. One drawback: if you crack one chip, you’ve basically cracked them all. Unique chips can help secure connected cars and buses or military equipment. You don't want a fighter jet to have a rogue chip with a backdoor on board. The leading American institute National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is now working on a standard for global chip #traceability. Chipmakers such as Intel Corporation, Qualcomm and AMD want to integrate the technology. It helps detect #counterfeit chips and NVIDIA could use it to verify that expensive AI chips don't end up in data centers in #China, circumventing #export restrictions. Europe, in turn, could create a more secure, independent #cloud with unique chips. The lesson of the hybrid war so far: our infrastructure requires better protection against #sabotage, and in ten years we'll be asking ourselves how we could ever have been so foolish as to not give chips their own fingerprint for decades. animation Roel Venderbosch link in comments

Interesting article here on how Europe’s infrastructure is becoming a front line in hybrid warfare from power grids and telecom towers to connected vehicles and defense systems. While most cyber security still relies on software certificates that can be hacked or forged, SandGrain B.V. takes a different path: giving every chip its own unique, unbreakable hardware ID. Think of it as a digital fingerprint etched directly into the silicon if the ID isn’t recognized, the device simply won’t open the door. #CyberResilience #PostQuantumSecurity #HardwareSecurity #CriticalInfrastructure #SandGrain #HybridWarfare

Great article on how to fight against today's most advanced attacks on connected devices and how #SandGrain brings state of the art solution. www.sandgrain.eu

UNIST researchers have developed a highly miniaturized hybrid low-dropout regulator (LDO) that significantly enhances voltage stability and noise suppression in advanced semiconductor systems. This compact chip, measuring only 0.032 mm², leverages innovative digital-to-analog transfer and local ground generation techniques, making it ideal for next-generation AI chips and 6G communication modules. 📄Published in IEEE JSSC: https://lnkd.in/gBtnGVXP #UNISTResearch #Semiconductors #SystemOnChips #AI #6G

Many people talking about quantum computing these days; how it uses "qubits" which can exist in multiple states, at the same time - instead of classical transistor 1 or 0 bits found in our laptops and phones. So a string of qubits can represent not just a particular sequence of 0s and 1s but trillions. Long story short it can guess your password and crack your encrypted files in minutes instead of decades.. this will become a challenge for IT security in the coming decades, if this technology falls into the wrong hands. But also has the potential to come up with medicines, materials and solutions we never could have conjured with current tech.

🔧 Advancing Chip Power Delivery for Next-Generation Computing As semiconductor devices continue to shrink and operate at higher speeds, traditional front-side power delivery networks (FSPDN) are hitting physical and efficiency limits. The front side of the chip is already crowded with signal routing and interconnect layers, leading to power loss, heat challenges, and reduced performance. To address this, engineers are now developing Back-Side Power Delivery Networks (BSPDN) — a breakthrough approach where power is routed through the back of the wafer, freeing the front side for faster and cleaner signal routing. ⚙️ Key Insight from Recent Research (Korea): Researchers used advanced simulations to analyze wafer stress and bending during BSPDN fabrication. They found that: High heat and dense copper layers increase mechanical stress and wafer warpage. Balanced copper distribution and controlled thermal processing significantly reduce bending. These improvements are crucial for thinner, more reliable next-gen chips. ✨ Why BSPDN Matters Reduces power losses and resistance Improves transistor performance Enables higher density, faster chips Supports continued Moore’s Law scaling This shift to back-side power architectures is set to play a major role in future mobile processors, AI accelerators, and high-performance computing. #Semiconductors #ChipDesign #Nanotechnology #BSPDN #VLSI #AdvancedPackaging #MooresLaw #Research #Innovation