Integrated Circuit Forensics for Supply-Chain, Product-Liability and IP Matters

What IC Forensics Actually Answers

Hardware matters land in one of a handful of shapes, and each requires a specific analytical approach:

• Is this part authentic? Whether an integrated circuit is the part its marking claims, the grade its marking claims, or from the manufacturing origin its marking claims.
• What caused this failure? Whether a field failure traces to a specific defect in the die, to a specific manufacturing anomaly, to installation stress, to wear-out, or to operational conditions outside the specified envelope.
• Was this design copied? Whether two chips share structural features at the die level consistent with derivation rather than independent design against the same specification.
• Does this hardware carry undisclosed capability? Whether an integrated circuit contains logic beyond its documented function, whether inserted during design, at the foundry, or after packaging.
• Was the supply chain compromised? Whether parts sourced through a specific channel differ, at the die level, from parts sourced through the authorized channel.

Non-Destructive Analysis First

Every engagement starts non-destructively. Once a part has been decapsulated it cannot go back into service, and the evidence chain benefits from having the fullest possible non-destructive record before any physical modification.

• High-magnification optical inspection for the surface tells characteristic of remarked packaging: ghosted original markings, sanding or blacktopping residue, laser-mark inconsistency and package-material discrepancies.
• X-ray radiography comparing internal die and bond-wire geometry against known-authentic reference samples of the same part number, to identify wire-count, wire-routing and die-size discrepancies that survive external repackaging.
• Acoustic microscopy to identify delamination, voids and internal cracking indicative of moisture ingress, thermal stress or handling damage.
• Electrical characterization against datasheet using controlled test fixtures, to identify units whose behavior at the corners of the specified operating envelope is inconsistent with the marking.

Decapsulation and Die-Level Imaging

Where the non-destructive record supports it, controlled decapsulation exposes the die for direct examination. The engagement documents the process, the tools used, the representative sampling logic, and the number of units consumed, because every decapsulation is a permanent alteration of the evidence.

• Chemical and plasma decapsulation selected against the package material and the specific analytical objective, with process parameters documented.
• Die photography at magnifications appropriate to the question being answered, from full-die overview through metallization-layer and gate-level imaging.
• Foundry-mark and process-node identification against a reference library of known process signatures, to identify parts whose fabrication origin is inconsistent with the marked manufacturer.
• Layer delayering where the analytical question requires access to buried metal or polysilicon layers, using calibrated mechanical or chemical processes.
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) work where feature-level imaging or cross-sectioning is required.

Electrical Fault Isolation

Where the question is which part or which structure caused a specific field failure, electrical fault isolation localizes the defect before physical analysis is performed. Curve tracing, thermal imaging under bias, and photon-emission microscopy identify the site of the defect on the die, so subsequent decapsulation and delayering are targeted rather than exploratory. The record supports both product-liability matters and the operator’s own root-cause and corrective-action work.

Counterfeit and Remarked-Part Detection

The counterfeit and remarked-part problem has changed shape as global supply chains have become more complex and lead times for authentic parts have lengthened. The analytical toolkit is stable: external tells, X-ray, decapsulation and die identification, electrical characterization. What has changed is the sophistication of the remarking work, which increasingly requires die-level confirmation to distinguish a competent counterfeit from an authentic part.

Reports are structured for use against the specific channel that supplied the parts, for the airworthiness or medical-device notification the operator may be required to make, and for the recovery matter that typically follows. Where the operator’s procurement process is itself under scrutiny, the report documents which analytical steps would have identified the discrepancy and at what point in the receiving process.

Where Our Miami Hardware Practice Runs Deepest

Aviation supply-chain and airworthiness matters

Counterfeit and non-conforming-part analysis for aviation MRO and operator clients, structured against the evidence expectations of the applicable airworthiness authority. Coordination with the operator’s regulatory counsel on notification obligations that follow from the analytical findings.

Medical-device product liability

Silicon-level failure analysis for medical-device product-liability matters, where the causation question turns on whether a specific die-level defect existed in the failed unit and whether the same defect is present in the population.

Automotive and commercial-vehicle electronics

ECU and safety-system silicon analysis in support of vehicle-accident and product-liability matters. Coordinates with our vehicle ECU forensics practice on matters where the electronic-system record and the underlying silicon both bear on causation.

Semiconductor patent and trade-secret litigation

Reverse-engineering support for patent-infringement and trade-secret matters, with structural die comparison and metallization-layer analysis structured for expert testimony in federal court.

Fintech and payment-hardware matters

Secure-element and payment-terminal silicon analysis for the Miami fintech cluster, including compromise analysis for terminals that have been recovered from suspected skimming or tampering incidents.

Cross-border supply-chain matters

Analysis supporting matters that reach across the South Florida logistics gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, with reporting available in Spanish and Portuguese where the receiving audience requires it.

Standards and Standing

Analytical methodology follows the SAE AS5553 and AS6081 counterfeit-electronic-parts standards where the matter is aviation-adjacent, the JEDEC standards applicable to the specific test being performed, and the SEMI and IEEE reference literature on failure analysis. Analysts hold credentials in failure analysis (ASQ CQE, IEST) and in digital forensics. Reports are structured for authentication under Fla. Stat. § 90.901 and Federal Rules of Evidence 902(13) and 902(14), and for admissibility analysis under Daubert / Frye. The analyst who performed the work is available for deposition and trial testimony.