Heavy ion energy influence on multiple-cell upsets in small sensitive volumes:from standard to high energies

The 28 nm process has a high cost-performance ratio and has gradually become the standard for the field of radiation-hardened devices.However,owing to the minimum physical gate length of only 35 nm,the physical area of a standard 6T SRAM unit is approximately 0.16μm^(2),resulting in a significant enhancement of multi-cell charge-sharing effects.Multiple-cell upsets(MCUs)have become the primary physical mechanism behind single-event upsets(SEUs)in advanced nanometer node devices.The range of ionization track effects increases with higher ion energies,and spacecraft in orbit primarily experience SEUs caused by high-energy ions.However,ground accelerator experiments have mainly obtained low-energy ion irradiation data.Therefore,the impact of ion energy on the SEU cross section,charge collection mechanisms,and MCU patterns and quantities in advanced nanometer devices remains unclear.In this study,based on the experimental platform of the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou,low-and high-energy heavy-ion beams were used to study the SEUs of 28 nm SRAM devices.The influence of ion energy on the charge collection processes of small-sensitive-volume devices,MCU patterns,and upset cross sections was obtained,and the applicable range of the inverse cosine law was clarified.The findings of this study are an important guide for the accurate evaluation of SEUs in advanced nanometer devices and for the development of radiation-hardening techniques.

Differences in MBUs induced by high-energy and medium-energy heavy ions in 28 nm FPGAs

Multiple-bit upsets(MBUs)have become a threat to modern advanced field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs)applications in radiation environments.Hence,many investigations have been conducted using mediumenergy heavy ions to study the effects of MBU radiation.However,high-energy heavy ions(HEHIs)greatly affect the size and percentage of MBUs because their ionizationtrack structures differ from those of medium-energy heavy ions.In this study,the different impacts of high-energy and medium-energy heavy ions on MBUs in 28 nm FPGAs as well as their mechanisms are thoroughly investigated.With the Geant4 calculation,more serious energy effects of HEHIs on MBU scales were successfully demonstrated.In addition,we identified worse MBU responses resulting from lowered voltages.The MBU orientation effect was observed in the radiation of different dimensions.The broadened ionization tracks for tilted tests in different dimensions could result in different MBU sizes.The results also revealed that the ionization tracks of tilted HEHIs have more severe impacts on the MBU scales than mediumenergy heavy ions with much higher linear energy transfer.Therefore,comprehensive radiation with HEHIs is indispensable for effective hardened designs to apply highdensity 28 nm FPGAs in deep space exploration.

Investigation of flux dependent sensitivity on single event effect in memory devices

Heavy-ion flux is an important experimental parameter in the ground based single event tests. The flux impact on a single event effect in different memory devices is analyzed by using GEANT4 and TCAD simulation methods. The transient radial track profile depends not only on the linear energy transfer （LET） of the incident ion, but also on the mass and energy of the ion. For the ions with the energies at the Bragg peaks, the radial charge distribution is wider when the ion LET is larger. The results extracted from the GEANT4 and TCAD simulations, together with detailed analysis of the device structure, are presented to demonstrate phenomena observed in the flux related experiment. The analysis shows that the flux effect conclusions drawn from the experiment are intrinsically connected and all indicate the mechanism that the flux effect stems from multiple ion-induced pulses functioning together and relies exquisitely on the specific response of the device.

Geant4 simulation of proton-induced single event upset in three-dimensional die-stacked SRAM device

Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation results of the single event upset(SEU)induced by protons with energy ranging from 0.3 MeV to 1 GeV are reported.The SEU cross section for planar and three-dimensional(3D)die-stacked SRAM are calculated.The results show that the SEU cross sections of the planar device and the 3D device are different from each other under low energy proton direct ionization mechanism,but almost the same for the high energy proton.Besides,the multi-bit upset(MBU)ratio and pattern are presented and analyzed.The results indicate that the MBU ratio of the 3D die-stacked device is higher than that of the planar device,and the MBU patterns are more complicated.Finally,the on-orbit upset rate for the 3D die-stacked device and the planar device are calculated by SPACE RADIATION software.The calculation results indicate that no matter what the orbital parameters and shielding conditions are,the on-orbit upset rate of planar device is higher than that of 3D die-stacked device.

Neutron-induced single event upset simulation in Geant4 for three-dimensional die-stacked SRAM

Three-dimensional integrated circuits(3D ICs)have entered into the mainstream due to their high performance,high integration,and low power consumption.When used in atmospheric environments,3D ICs are irradiated inevitably by neutrons.In this paper,a 3D die-stacked SRAM device is constructed based on a real planar SRAM device.Then,the single event upsets(SEUs)caused by neutrons with different energies are studied by the Monte Carlo method.The SEU cross-sections for each die and for the whole three-layer die-stacked SRAM device is obtained for neutrons with energy ranging from 1 MeV to 1000 MeV.The results indicate that the variation trend of the SEU cross-section for every single die and for the entire die-stacked device is consistent,but the specific values are different.The SEU cross-section is shown to be dependent on the threshold of linear energy transfer(LETth)and thickness of the sensitive volume(Tsv).The secondary particle distribution and energy deposition are analyzed,and the internal mechanism that is responsible for this difference is illustrated.Besides,the ratio and patterns of multiple bit upset(MBU)caused by neutrons with different energies are also presented.This work is helpful for the aerospace IC designers to understand the SEU mechanism of 3D ICs caused by neutrons irradiation.

Influences of total ionizing dose on single event effect sensitivity in floating gate cells

The influences of total ionizing dose （TID） on the single event effect （SEE） sensitivity of 34-nm and 25-nm NAND flash memories are investigated in this paper. The increase in the cross section of heavy-ion single event upset （SEU） in memories that have ever been exposed to TID is observed, which is attributed to the combination of the threshold voltage shifts induced by 7-rays and heavy ions. Retention errors in floating gate （FG） cells after heavy ion irradiation are observed. Moreover, the cross section of retention error increases if the memory has ever been exposed to TID. This effect is more evident at a low linear energy transfer （LET） value. The underlying mechanism is identified as the combination of the defects induced by 7-rays and heavy ions, which increases the possibility to constitute a multi-trap assisted tunneling （m- TAT） path across the tunnel oxide.

Characterization of swift heavy ion tracks in MoS2 by transmission electron microscopy

The various morphologies of tracks in MoS2 irradiated by swift heavy ions at normal and 30° incidence with 9.5–25.0 MeV/u 86Kr, 129Xe, 181Ta, and 209Bi ions were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The diameter of ion tracks increases from 1.9 nm to 4.5 nm with increasing electronic energy loss. The energy loss threshold of the track formation in MoS2 is predicted as about 9.7 keV/nm based on the thermal spike model and it seems consistent with the experimental results. It is shown that the morphology of ion tracks is related to the penetration length of ions in MoS2. The formation process of ion tracks is discussed based on the cooperative process of outflow and recrystallization of the molten phase during rapid quenching.