Title :
Accurate measurements of small charges collected on junctions from alpha particle strikes using an accelerator-produced microbeam
Author :
Aton, T.J. ; Seitchik, J.A. ; Jantz, S.D. ; Shichijo, H.
Author_Institution :
Semicond. Process & Design Center, Texas Instrum. Inc., Dallas, TX, USA
Abstract :
We describe an accelerator-based system for accurate experiments of alpha particle strikes on integrated circuits. It produces a high-flux, micron-dimensioned collimated beam in air. High speed blanking controls the arrival time and number of alphas. We accurately measure the small alpha-generated charges that collect on junctions using novel test structures and measure SRAM soft error rates. The test structure results are compared to results from our fast alpha-strike simulator.
Keywords :
SRAM chips; alpha-particle effects; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; SRAM soft error rates; accelerator-produced microbeam; alpha particle strikes; alpha-generated charges; arrival time; collimated beam; high speed blanking; semiconductor integrated circuits; test structures; Acceleration; Alpha particles; Apertures; Capacitance measurement; Charge measurement; Current measurement; Particle beams; Particle measurements; Random access memory; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Reliability Physics Symposium, 1995. 33rd Annual Proceedings., IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2031-X
DOI :
10.1109/RELPHY.1995.513696
