Single-Event Pulse Broadening After Narrowing Effect in Nano-CMOS Logic Circuits

In nanometer bulk CMOS processes, the multinode charge collection induced by single events (SEs) is becoming prevalent. Our research indicates that the SE transient (SET) pulse evolvement is more intricate with a small feature size due to the multinode charge collection. The generated SET can be quenched due to charge sharing, and the quenched SET can be obviously broadened again due to charge sharing as well. This phenomenon is named as the pulse broadening after narrowing (PBAN) effect. The neutron simulations by Geant4 indicate that the PBAN effect is becoming more and more remarkable with the technology scaling down and that the elastic collision is the dominant effect for atmospheric neutron radiation, whereas the inelastic collision plays a dominant role on a monoenergetic neutron strike with energy larger than 10 MeV.