Fiber optic sensing for hardware anomaly detection

Fiber optic sensing is being used to observe hardware anomalies on two categories of semiconductor components. Distributed fiber optic sensors were first attached to a programmable development board. The sensors monitored temperature during specific operations commonly performed on programmable hardware platforms such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The sensors detected temperature changes that were consistent for identifying specific operations. The fiber optic sensors were also used to measure semiconductor package temperatures on power diodes and provided intrinsic high voltage isolation and low electromagnetic susceptibility. Thermal characterization during switching or power cycling is important for monitoring device behavior in power electronic systems. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to prove that fiber optic sensing may be a viable technique to diagnose hardware anomalies that result during specific computing functions, such as malware, or for detecting thermal changes on semiconductors embedded in power module systems.