This paper examines the effect of technology scaling and microarchitectural trends on the rate of soft errors in CMOS memory and logic circuits. We describe and validate an end-to-end model that enables us to compute the soft error rates (SER) for existing and future microprocessor-style designs. The model captures the effects of two important masking phenomena, electrical masking and latching-window masking, which inhibit soft errors in combinational logic. We quantify the SER due to high-energy neutrons in SRAM cells, latches, and logic circuits for feature sizes from 600 nm to 50 nm and clock periods from 16 to 6 fan-out-of-4 inverter delays. Our model predicts that the SER per chip of logic circuits will increase nine orders of magnitude from 1992 to 2011 and at that point will be comparable to the SER per chip of unprotected memory elements. Our result emphasizes that computer system designers must address the risks of soft errors in logic circuits for future designs.

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Modeling the effect of technology trends on the soft error rate of combinational logic

The once-ephemeral radiation-induced soft error has become a key threat to advanced commercial electronic components and systems. Left unchallenged, soft errors have the potential for inducing the highest failure rate of all other reliability mechanisms combined. This article briefly reviews the types of failure modes for soft errors, the three dominant radiation mechanisms responsible for creating soft errors in terrestrial applications, and how these soft errors are generated by the collection of radiation-induced charge. The soft error sensitivity as a function of technology scaling for various memory and logic components is then presented with a consideration of which applications are most likely to require soft error mitigation.

/pdf/radiation-induced-soft-errors-in-advanced-semiconductor-1i5zuuxcs6.pdf

Radiation-induced soft errors in advanced semiconductor technologies

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Design Of Analog Cmos Integrated Circuits

Physical mechanisms responsible for nondestructive single-event effects in digital microelectronics are reviewed, concentrating on silicon MOS devices and integrated circuits. A brief historical overview of single-event effects in space and terrestrial systems is given, and upset mechanisms in dynamic random access memories, static random access memories, and combinational logic are detailed. Techniques for mitigating single-event upset are described, as well as methods for predicting device and circuit single-event response using computer simulations. The impact of technology trends on single-event susceptibility and future areas of concern are explored.

Basic mechanisms and modeling of single-event upset in digital microelectronics

http://user.it.uu.se/~jarst116/slides/week4.pdf

Graph-Based Algorithms for Boolean Function Manipulation

Carrier generation based on subbandgap two-photon absorption is demonstrated and shown to be a viable alternative to the conventional single-photon excitation approach in laser-induced single event effects. The two-photon approach exhibits characteristics distinct from those of single-photon excitation, and may be advantageous for a range of single-event effect investigations. The charge track produced by two-photon absorption more closely resembles that of heavy-ion irradiation and, because the photon energy is subbandgap, backside injection through bulk silicon wafers is straightforward and three-dimensional mapping is possible.

Subbandgap laser-induced single event effects: carrier generation via two-photon absorption

A pulsed laser was used to demonstrate that, for transients much shorter than the clock period, error rates in sequential logic were independent of frequency, whereas error rates in combinational logic were linearly dependent on frequency. In addition, by measuring the error rate as a function of laser pulse energy for fixed clock frequency, the logarithmic dependence of the SEU vulnerable time period prior to the clock edge in combinational logic was established. A mixed mode circuit simulator program was used to successfully model the dynamic response of the logic circuit to pulses of laser light.

Comparison of error rates in combinational and sequential logic

In this paper we present an evaluation of the pulsed laser as a technique for single events effects (SEE) testing. We explore in detail the important optical effects, such as laser beam propagation, surface reflection, and linear and nonlinear absorption, which determine the nature of laser-generated charge tracks in semiconductor materials. While there are differences in the structure of laser- and ion-generated charge tracks, we show that in many cases the pulsed laser remains an invaluable tool for SEE testing. Indeed, for several SEE applications, we show that the pulsed laser method represents a more practical approach than conventional accelerator-based methods. >

Critical evaluation of the pulsed laser method for single event effects testing and fundamental studies

Pulsed laser single-event upset tests are used to pinpoint and characterize sensitive nodes of circuits and to provide feedback relevant to the development and optimization of radiation-hard designs. The results presented reveal the advantages of incorporating laser evaluation at an early stage into programs described for the development of radiation-hardened parts. A quantitative correlation is observed between the laser single-event upset and single-event latchup threshold measurements and those performed using accelerator-based heavy ion testing methods.

Application of a pulsed laser for evaluation and optimization of SEU-hard designs [CMOS]

Carrier generation based on subbandgap two-photon absorption is used to perform three-dimensional mapping of the single-event transient response of the LM124 operational amplifier. Three classes of single-event-induced transients are observed for the input transistor Q20. A combination of experiment and transistor level modeling is used to assign the different classes of measured transients to charge collection across specific junctions. The large-amplitude, positive-going transients cannot be assigned to a single junction, and are identified with a collector-substrate photocurrent.

S. P. Buchner

Papers

Subbandgap laser-induced single event effects: carrier generation via two-photon absorption

Comparison of error rates in combinational and sequential logic

Critical evaluation of the pulsed laser method for single event effects testing and fundamental studies

Application of a pulsed laser for evaluation and optimization of SEU-hard designs [CMOS]

Three-dimensional mapping of single-event effects using two photon absorption