This Small Business Innvation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop an Integrated Circuit (IC) authentication system as a countermeasure to the growing counterfeit IC problem. The goal is to leverage the extremely compact form factor of a patent-pending Micro Mark two dimensional (2D) direct part marking technology to apply permanent, unalterable, unique identification codes to individual IC packages. These codes will be generated from a centralized database then marked onto individual ICs such that they can be read and verified with the database throughout the subsequent supply chain to ensure traceability and authenticity. This Micro Mark technology is small enough (<25um) to fit on the vast majority of IC package form factors and provides sufficient code density to allow serialization.
The broader/commercial impacts of this project is to prevent the adverse effects of Integrated Circuit (IC) counterfeiting. ICs are a critical in the design of all electronic products and as our society becomes more and more dependent on electronic products for personal and business use it is important to ensure the correct operation of these products. This authentication system will enable manufacturers to ensure that the ICs they are deploying on their manufacturing lines are the authentic product. This system will also provide additional savings to the industry by reducing or eliminating the costs of manufacturing rework and product recalls due to counterfeit ICs. Moreover, as U.S. military electronic equipment has been infiltrated by counterfeit ICs, this authentication system will provide the systemic approach to stop the infiltration and preserve the performance of these military systems as they were designed and intended. As the technology matures, other industries which demand strict inventory control and efficient product recall (e.g. defense, pharmaceutical, legal, and forensic sciences) could also benefit from the Micro Mark Authentication System.
The Micro Mark Authentication System provides a low-cost, easy-to-implement and robust anti-counterfeiting and tracking methodology. This system meets the requirements of the US Department of Defense for their subcontractors, and will ultimately provide a robust option for protecting sensitive projects and programs from counterfeiting attacks. Triune has verified the potential usefulness of the technology with two tier 1 DoD subcontractors. Micro Mark provides a base technology and manufacturing methodology that can positively impact both commercial and defense related markets. The gray and black market for electronic components is a major issue in supply chain management, and Micro Mark gives manufacturers and customers a way to reduce or eliminate counterfeit threats with a cost-effective and straightforward solution that can be easily integrated into their existing supply chain. Reduced counterfeit products in the supply chain benefits all markets and ensures the quality and safety of products purchased by the government or consumers. Triune worked with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to change the Mil-STD used for unique identifiers for military assets. Triune successfully submitted comments on Mil-STD-130M which were approved and added to the standard in late 2012. The 2D mark used in Micro Mark is now a recommended solution for marking and tracking small components, such as semiconductors. Given the importance of this Mil-STD, the field of unique identification of assets will be greatly improved by the Micro Mark Phase II efforts, and provide a recommended method for marking small components that were previously un-marked due to the size restrictions of the standard. Triune has worked closely with several technology partners on both the laser marking/reading and database management aspects, which gives a good foundation for the pilot and commercialization efforts that follow. The TECP activities resulted in identification of a lead commercial partner, and an agreement on the need for a pilot program to validate the technology in a real-life supply chain situation. The lead partner has also confirmed that the technology (if proven) will fulfill the needs of the Department of Defense anti-counterfeiting requirements placed upon DoD suppliers. With the completion of the Phase II development, Triune has demonstrated the capability of the Micro Mark technology in marking, reading and tracking devices through a secure database. And the modification of the Mil STD-130M to include provisions and recommendations for small 2D marks means the underlying technology is now a recommended and approved method for marking and tracking small devices, such as semiconductors.
