Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) are hardware tools present in most modern technologies, in the form of accelerometers, microphones, gyroscopes or even clocks [1]. These types of devices present two especially relevant source of stochasticity, Brownian and 1/f noises, which are traditionally difficult to exploit as they are quite low compare to the signal of interest. However, by putting vibrating MEMS in a chaotic regime, the dynamics of these mechanical structures becomes exponentially sensitive to fluctuations, enabling to amplify their source of entropy and to use them as TRNGs. [2]. In this presentation, I will first introduce the concept of chaotic MEMS, and then discuss their figures of merit in the context of TRNGs.
[1] J. Zhu et al., « Development Trends and Perspectives of Future Sensors and MEMS/NEMS », Micromachines, vol. 11, no 1, Art. no 1, janv. 2020.
[2] M. Defoort, L. Rufer, L. Fesquet, et S. Basrour, « A dynamical approach to generate chaos in a micromechanical resonator », Microsystems & Nanoengineering, vol. 7, no 1, Art. no 1, févr. 2021.