Master student (m/f/d) Cybersecurity

As a Master student, you will become part of the binational research project LUCA (Laser Ultrasonics for Cybersecurity Analysis), a collaboration between RECENDT and three leading French research groups.

While cybersecurity is often associated with software-based attacks, critical security vulnerabilities also exist at the hardware level. Sophisticated physical attacks can probe electronic devices to extract sensitive information, enable reverse engineering, or manipulate device operation. Understanding, improving and finally preventing such attacks requires new techniques for increasingly complex micro- and nanoscale electronic systems.

The LUCA project investigates the interaction of laser-generated high-frequency ultrasound (GHz range) with functional electronic devices and their elementary constituents, such as individual transistors. A central objective is to advance the fundamental understanding of the physical mechanisms governing the generation, propagation, and detection of high frequency elastic waves in these devices, enabling the development of novel methods for future hardware security applications.

Your role will involve the experimental implementation of these concepts, with a particular focus on improving and optimizing a laser ultrasonic system for ultrafast acoustics on sub-nanosecond timescales. You will also perform measurements and analyse the resulting experimental data.

You can find more information about LUCA here:

https://luca.myresearch.ac/

https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-radar/10.55776/PIN1915425

Your tasks:

Play a key role in the improved understanding of laser-generated elastic wave interaction with functional electronic devices with a focus on

• Building and optimizing a laser ultrasonic microscope system for ultrafast acoustics on sub-ns timescales (picosecond ultrasonics) including optical imaging capabilities
• Measurements on electronic devices and their fundamental building blocks, e.g. transistors.
• Data analysis and interpretation