Radiation test challenges for scaled commercial memories

As sub-100 nm CMOS technologies gather interest, the radiation effects performance of these technologies provide a significant challenge. In this paper, we shall discuss the radiation testing challenges as related to commercial memory devices. The focus will be on complex test and failure modes emerging in state-of-the-art flash nonvolatile memories (NVMs) and synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs), which are volatile. Due to their very high bit density, these device types are highly desirable for use in the natural space environment. In this paper, we shall discuss these devices with emphasis on considerations for test and qualification methods required.