  This paper discusses the possible introduction of hidden reliability defects
during CMOS foundry fabrication processes that may lead to accelerated wearout
of the devices. These hidden defects or hardware Trojans can be created by
deviation from foundry design rules and processing parameters. The Trojans are
produced by exploiting time-based wearing mechanisms (HCI, NBTI, TDDB and EM)
and/or condition-based triggers (ESD, Latchup and Softerror). This class of
latent damage is difficult to test due to its gradual degradation nature. The
paper describes life-time expectancy results for various Trojan induced
scenarios. Semiconductor properties, processing and design parameters critical
for device reliability and Trojan creation are discussed.
