Simulating Nuclear Events in a TCAD Model of a High-Density SEU Hardened SRAM Technology

Author

Ball, D.R. ; Warren, K.M. ; Weller, R.A. ; Reed, R.A. ; Kobayashi, A. ; Pellish, J.A. ; Mendenhall, M.H. ; Howe, C.L. ; Massengill, L.W. ; Schrimpf, R.D. ; Haddad, N.F.

Author_Institution

Inst. for Space & Defense Electron., Nashville, TN

Volume

53

Issue

4

fYear

2006

Firstpage

1794

Lastpage

1798

Abstract

The interaction between a heavy ion and the overlayer materials in an integrated circuit may result in a nuclear reaction. This reaction leads to a charge generation profile that is substantially altered from the profile generated during a direct ionization event. In this work, nuclear reactions are integrated into the modeling of the SEU response of an SRAM cell using GEANT4-based simulations. The simulated transient response is compared to the response obtained using a typical heavy ion model that includes only direct ionization

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; SRAM chips; heavy ion-nucleus reactions; ion beam effects; ionisation; radiation hardening (electronics); technology CAD (electronics); transient response; GEANT4-based simulation; Monte Carlo method; SRAM technology; TCAD model; charge generation; heavy ion model; high-density SEU hardening; integrated circuit; ionization event; nuclear event simulation; nuclear reaction; Circuit simulation; Dielectric materials; Discrete event simulation; Inorganic materials; Ionization; MOSFETs; Metallization; Monte Carlo methods; Nuclear power generation; Random access memory; Heavy, ion; Monte Carlo; SRAM; TCAD; nuclear event;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2006.880933

Filename

1684019