New terahertz technique lets engineers see inside running processors in real time

Australian engineers developed a breakthrough technique using terahertz radiation to observe individual transistor activity inside operating processors in real time. By modifying a standard vector network analyzer to work in the terahertz domain, they can map chip behavior without invasive probes, potentially revolutionizing semiconductor testing and fabrication quality control. However, the method faces challenges with complex 3D chip architectures and raises security concerns since the same transparency could enable attackers to observe live computations.