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.

Design of Novel and Low Cost Triple-node Upset Self-recoverable Latch

With the development of semiconductor technology,the size of transistors continues to shrink.In complex radiation environments in aerospace and other fields,small-sized circuits are more prone to soft error(SE).Currently,single-node upset(SNU),double-node upset(DNU)and triple-node upset(TNU)caused by SE are relatively common.TNU’s solution is not yet fully mature.A novel and low-cost TNU self-recoverable latch(named NLCTNURL)was designed which is resistant to harsh radiation effects.When analyzing circuit resiliency,a double-exponential current source is used to simulate the flipping behavior of a node’s stored value when an error occurs.Simulation results show that the latch has full TNU self-recovery.A comparative analysis was conducted on seven latches related to TNU.Besides,a comprehensive index combining delay,power,area and self-recovery—DPAN index was proposed,and all eight types of latches from the perspectives of delay,power,area,and DPAN index were analyzed and compared.The simulation results show that compared with the latches LCTNURL and TNURL which can also achieve TNU self-recoverable,NLCTNURL is reduced by 68.23%and 57.46%respectively from the perspective of delay.From the perspective of power,NLCTNURL is reduced by 72.84%and 74.19%,respectively.From the area perspective,NLCTNURL is reduced by about 28.57%and 53.13%,respectively.From the DPAN index perspective,NLCTNURL is reduced by about 93.12%and 97.31%.The simulation results show that the delay and power stability of the circuit are very high no matter in different temperatures or operating voltages.

Angular dependence of multiple-bit upset response in static random access memories under heavy ion irradiation

Experimental evidence is presented relevant to the angular dependences of multiple-bit upset （MBU） rates and patterns in static random access memories （SRAMs） under heavy ion irradiation. The single event upset （SEU） cross sections under tilted ion strikes are overestimated by 23.9%-84.6%, compared with under normally incident ion with the equivalent linear energy transfer （LET） value of 41 MeV/（mg/cm2）, which can be partially explained by the fact that the MBU rate for tilted ions of 30° is 8.5%-9.8% higher than for normally incident ions. While at a lower LET of - 9.5 MeV/（mg/cm2）, no clear discrepancy is observed. Moreover, since the ion trajectories at normal and tilted incidences are different, the predominant double-bit upset （DBU） patterns measured are different in both conditions. Those differences depend on the LET values of heavy ions and devices under test. Thus, effective LET method should be used carefully in ground-based testing of single event effects （SEE） sensitivity, especially in MBU-sensitive devices.

Physics-based analysis and simulation model of electromagnetic interference induced soft logic upset in CMOS inverter

The instantaneous reversible soft logic upset induced by the electromagnetic interference（EMI） severely affects the performances and reliabilities of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor（CMOS） inverters. This kind of soft logic upset is investigated in theory and simulation. Physics-based analysis is performed, and the result shows that the upset is caused by the non-equilibrium carrier accumulation in channels, which can ultimately lead to an abnormal turn-on of specific metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor（MOSFET） in CMOS inverter. Then a soft logic upset simulation model is introduced. Using this model, analysis of upset characteristic reveals an increasing susceptibility under higher injection powers, which accords well with experimental results, and the influences of EMI frequency and device size are studied respectively using the same model. The research indicates that in a range from L waveband to C waveband, lower interference frequency and smaller device size are more likely to be affected by the soft logic upset.

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 supply voltage on single event upsets and multiple-cell upsets in nanometer SRAM across a wide linear energy transfer range

The influences of reducing the supply voltage on single event upset(SEU) and multiple-cell upset(MCU) in two kinds of 65-nm static random access memories(SRAMs) are characterized across a wide linear energy transfer(LET) range.The results show that the influence of the voltage variation on SEU cross section clearly depends on the LET value which is above heavy ion LET threshold no matter whether the SRAM is non-hardened 6 T SRAM or radiation-hardened double dual interlocked cells(DICE) SRAM.When the LET value is lower than the LET threshold of MCU,the SEU only manifests single cell upset,the SEU cross section increases with the decrease of voltage.The lower the LET value,the higher the SEU sensitivity to the voltage variation is.Lowering the voltage has no evident influence on SEU cross section while the LET value is above the LET threshold of MCU.Moreover,the reduction of the voltage can result in a decrease in the highest-order MCU event cross section due to the decrease of charge collection efficiency of the outer sub-sensitive volume within a certain voltage range.With further scaling the feature size of devices down,it is suggested that the dependence of SEU on voltage variation should be paid special attention to for heavy ions with very low LET or the other particles with very low energy for nanometer commercial off-the-shelf(COTS) SRAM.

Heavy ion-induced single event upset sensitivity evaluation of 3D integrated static random access memory

Heavy ion-induced single event upsets(SEUs)of static random access memory(SRAM), integrated with three-dimensional integrated circuit technology, are evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation method based on the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The SEU cross sections and multiple cell upset(MCU) susceptibility of 3D SRAM are explored using different types and energies of heavy ions.In the simulations, the sensitivities of different dies of 3D SRAM show noticeable discrepancies for low linear energy transfers(LETs). The average percentage of MCUs of 3D SRAM increases from 17.2 to 32.95%, followed by the energy of ^(209)Bi decreasing from 71.77 to 38.28 MeV/u. For a specific LET, the percentage of MCUs presents a notable difference between the face-to-face and back-toface structures. In the back-to-face structure, the percentage of MCUs increases with a deeper die, compared with the face-to-face structure. The simulation method and process are verified by comparing the SEU cross sections of planar SRAM with experimental data. The upset cross sections of the planar process and 3D integrated SRAM are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the 3D SRAM sensitivity is not greater than that of the planar SRAM. The 3D process technology has the potential to be applied to the aerospace and military fields.

Monte Carlo evaluation of spatial multiple-bit upset sensitivity to oblique incidence

We investigate the impact of heavy ion irradiation on a hypothetical static random access memory （SRAM） device. Influences of the irradiation angle, critical charge, drain-drain spacing, and dimension of device structure on the device sensitivity have been studied. These prediction and simulated results are interpreted with MUFPSA, a Monte Carlo code based on Geant4. The results show that the orientation of ion beams and device with different critical charge exert indis- pensable effects on multiple-bit upsets （MBUs）, and that with the decrease in spacing distance between adjacent cells or the dimension of the cells, the device is more susceptible to single event effect, especially to MBUs at oblique incidence.

Heavy ion induced upset errors in 90-nm 64 Mb NOR-type floating-gate Flash memory

Upset errors in 90-nm 64 Mb NOR-type floating-gate Flash memory induced by accelerated ^（129）Xe and ^（209）Bi ions are investigated in detail. The linear energy transfer covers the range from 50 to 99.8 Me V/（mg/cm^2）. When the memory chips are powered off during heavy ions irradiation, single-event-latch-up and single-event-function-interruption are excluded,and only 0-〉1 upset errors in the memory array are observed. These error bit rates seem very difficult to achieve and cannot be simply recovered based on the power cycle. The number of error bits shows a strong dependence on the linear energy transfer（LET）. Under room-temperature annealing conditions, the upset errors can be reduced by about two orders of magnitude using rewrite/reprogram operations, but they subsequently increase once again in a few minutes after the power cycle. High-temperature annealing can diminish almost all error bits, which are affected by the lower LET ^（129）Xe ions. The percolation path between the floating-gate（FG） and the substrate contributes to the radiation-induced leakage current, and has been identified as the root cause of the upset errors of the Flash memory array in this work.

Recovery of single event upset in advanced complementary metal-oxide semiconductor static random access memory cells

Using computer-aided design three-dimensional （3D） simulation technology, the recovery mechanism of single event upset and the effects of spacing and hit angle on the recovery are studied. It is found that the multi-node charge collection plays a key role in recovery and shielding the charge sharing by adding guard rings. It cannot exhibit the recovery effect. It is also indicated that the upset linear energy transfer （LET） threshold is kept constant while the recovery LET threshold increases as the spacing increases. Additionally, the effect of incident angle on recovery is analysed and it is shown that a larger angle can bring about a stronger charge sharing effect, thus strengthening the recovery ability.

BREAKAGE MECHANISM OF TUNGSTEN BASED ALLOY BLOCK FOR ELECTRO-HEAT UPSETTING

The breakage mechanism of W-Ni-Fe alloy in the process of electro-heat upsetting studied both theoretically and experimetnally, and also the behaviors of crack formation and propagation were analysed. Alloy suffers from corrosion and thermal-mechanical fatigue mutual function. Simultaneously, the practical ways to improve the anvil life was discussed.

Unique microstructure and property of a 2024 aluminum alloy subjected to upsetting extrusion multiple processing

The microstructure and hardness of a 2024 aluminum alloy subjected tomulti-pass upsetting extrusion at ambient temperature were studied. Experimental results indicatedthat with the number of upsetting extrusion passes increasing, the grains of the alloy are graduallyrefined and the hardness increases correspondingly. After ten passes of upsetting extrusionprocessing, the grain size decreases to less than 200 nm in diameter and the sample maintains itsoriginal shape, while the hardness is double owing to equal-axial ultrafine grains and workhardening effect caused by large plastic deformation.

ANALYSIS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL UPSETTING PROCESS BY THE RIGID-PLASTIC REPRODUCING KERNEL PARTICLE METHOD

A meshless approach, called the rigid-plastic reproducing kernel particle method （RKPM）, is presented for three-dimensional （3D） bulk metal forming simulation. The approach is a combination of RKPM with the flow theory of 3D rigid-plastic mechanics. For the treatments of essential boundary conditions and incompressibility constraint, the boundary singular kernel method and the modified penalty method are utilized, respectively. The arc-tangential friction model is employed to treat the contact conditions. The compression of rectangular blocks, a typical 3D upsetting operation, is analyzed for different friction conditions and the numerical results are compared with those obtained using commercial rigid-plastic FEM （finite element method） software Deform^3D. As results show, when handling 3D plastic deformations, the proposed approach eliminates the need of expensive meshing and remeshing procedures which are unavoidable in conventional FEM and can provide results that are in good agreement with finite element predictions.

The supply voltage scaled dependency of the recovery of single event upset in advanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor static random-access memory cells

Using computer-aided design three-dimensional simulation technology,the supply voltage scaled dependency of the recovery of single event upset and charge collection in static random-access memory cells are investigated.It reveals that the recovery linear energy transfer threshold decreases with the supply voltage reducing,which is quite attractive for dynamic voltage scaling and subthreshold circuit radiation-hardened design.Additionally,the effect of supply voltage on charge collection is also investigated.It is concluded that the supply voltage mainly affects the bipolar gain of the parasitical bipolar junction transistor（BJT） and the existence of the source plays an important role in supply voltage variation.

MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF CYLINDERS BEING UPSET BETWEEN SPHERICAL CONCAVE PLATEN AND CONCAVE SUPPORTING PLATE

Mechanical analysis of cylinders being upset between spherical concave platen and concave supporting plate is conducted. Rigid-plastic mechanical models for cylinders are presented. When the ratio of height to diameter, is larger than 1, there exists two-dimensional tensile stress in the deformed body, when the ratio is smaller than 1, there exists shear stress in static hydraulic zone. The former breaks through the theory that there is three-dimensional compressive stress irrespective of any ratio of height to diameter. The latter satisfactorily explains the mechanism of layer-like cracks in disk-shaped forgings and the flanges of forged gear axles. The representation of the two models makes the upsetting, theory into correct and perfect stage.

Impact of energy straggle on proton-induced single event upset test in a 65-nm SRAM cell

This paper presents a simulation study of the impact of energy straggle on a proton-induced single event upset （SEU） test in a commercial 65-nm static random access memory cell. The simulation results indicate that the SEU cross sections for low energy protons are significantly underestimated due to the use of degraders in the SEU test. In contrast, using degraders in a high energy proton test may cause the overestimation of the SEU cross sections. The results are confirmed by the experimental data and the impact of energy straggle on the SEU cross section needs to be taken into account when conducting a proton-induced SEU test in a nanodevice using degraders.

Multiple bit upsets mitigation in memory by using improved hamming codes and parity codes

This paper combines improved Hamming codes and parity codes to assure the reliability of memory in presence of multiple bit upsets with low cost overhead.The redundancy bits of improved Hamming codes will be appended at the end of data bits,which eliminates the overhead of interspersing the redundancy bits at the encoder and decoder.The reliability of memory is further enhanced by the layout architecture of redundancy bits and data bits.The proposed scheme has been implemented in Verilog and synthesized using the Synopsys tools.The results reveal that the proposed method has about 19% less area penalties and 13% less power consumption comparing with the current two-dimensional error codes,and its latency of encoder and decoder is 63% less than that of Hamming codes.

Heavy ion‑induced MCUs in 28nm SRAM‑based FPGAs:upset proportions,classifications,and pattern shapes

For modern scaling devices,multiple cell upsets(MCUs)have become a major threat to high-reliability field-programmable gate array(FPGA)-based systems.Thus,both performing the worst-case irradiation tests to provide the actual MCU response of devices and proposing an effective MCU distinction method are urgently needed.In this study,high-and medium-energy heavy-ion irradiations for the configuration random-access memory of 28 nm FPGAs are performed.An MCU extraction method supported by theoretical predictions is proposed to study the MCU sizes,shapes,and frequencies in detail.Based on the extraction method,the different percentages,and orientations of the large MCUs in both the azimuth and zenith directions determine the worse irradiation response of the FPGAs.The extracted largest 9-bit MCUs indicate that high-energy heavy ions can induce more severe failures than medium-energy ones.The results show that both the use of high-energy heavy ions during MCU evaluations and effective protection for the application of high-density 28 nm FPGAs in space are extremely necessary.

Pattern dependence in synergistic effects of total dose on single-event upset hardness

The pattern dependence in synergistic effects was studied in a 0.18 μm static random access memory（SRAM） circuit.Experiments were performed under two SEU test environments：3 Me V protons and heavy ions.Measured results show different trends.In heavy ion SEU test,the degradation in the peripheral circuitry also existed because the measured SEU cross section decreased regardless of the patterns written to the SRAM array.TCAD simulation was performed.TIDinduced degradation in n MOSFETs mainly induced the imprint effect in the SRAM cell,which is consistent with the measured results under the proton environment,but cannot explain the phenomena observed under heavy ion environment.A possible explanation could be the contribution from the radiation-induced GIDL in pMOSFETs.

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.