Mechanisms of alpha particle induced soft errors in nanoscale static random access memories

Zhang Zhan-Gang; Ye Bing; Ji Qing-Gang; Guo Jin-Long; Xi Kai; Lei Zhi-Feng; Huang Yun; Peng Chao; He Yu-Juan; Liu Jie; Du Guang-Hua

doi:10.7498/aps.69.20201796

Abstract

In this paper, the Am-241 is used as an alpha particle radioactive source to investigate the soft error mechanism in 65-nm and 90-nm static random accessmemory (SRAM). Combining reverse analysis, TRIM and CREME-MC Monte Carlo simulation, the energy transport process, deposited energy spectrum and cross-section characteristics of alpha particles in the device are revealed. The results show that the soft error sensitivity of the 65-nm device is much higher than that of the 90-nm device, and no flipping polarity is found. According to the real-time measured soft error rate at an altitude of 4300 m in Tibetan Yangbajing area, the thermal neutron sensitivity and alpha particle soft error rate, the overall soft error rate of 65-nm SRAM used at sea level of Beijing city is 429 FIT/Mb, and the contribution from alpha particles is 70.63%. Based on the results of reverse analysis, a three-dimensional simulation model of the device is constructed to study the influence of the incident angle of alpha particles on the single event upset characteristics. It is found that the corresponding deposition energy value at the peak of the number of particles in the sensitive region decreases by 40% with the incident angle increasing from 0° to 60°. While the single event upset cross sectionincreases by 79% due to the apparent single event upset edge effect in a sensitive region of the 65-nm device.

Keywords:

Authors and contacts

1.
Science and Technology on Reliability Physics and Application of Electronic Component Laboratory, China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Guangzhou 510610, China
2.
Material Research Center, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
3.
Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

Corresponding author: Lei Zhi-Feng, leizhifeng@ceprei.com ; Huang Yun, yunhuang@ceprei.com ;

Funds: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61704031), the Science and Technology Research Project of Guangdong Province, China (Grant Nos. 2017B090901068, 2017B090921001), and the Science and Technology Plan Project of Guangzhou, China (Grant No. 201707010186)

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References

[1]	May T C, Woods M H 1979 IEEE Trans. Electron. Dev. ED-26 2
[2]	Bhuva B 2018 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) San Francisco, CA, USA, December 1−5, 2018 p34.4.1
[3]	Lei Z F, Zhang Z G, En Y F, Huang Y 2018 Chin. Phys. B 27 066105 Google Scholar
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[5]	JESD89 A Measurement and Reporting of Alpha Particle and Terrestrial Cosmic Ray-Induced Soft Errors in Semiconductor Devices JEDEC standard, October 2006 [标准]
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[11]	Fang Y, Oates A S 2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) Burlingame, CA, USA, March 11−15, 2018 p4C.2-1
[12]	Zhang Z, Lei Z, Tong T, Li X, Xi K, Peng C, Shi Q, He Y, Huang Y, En Y 2019 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 66 1368 Google Scholar
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[14]	Ziegler J F, Biersack J P, Littmark U 1985 The Stopping and Range of Ions in Solids (New York: Pergamon Press)
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[16]	Tylka A J, Adams J H, Boberg P R, Brownstein B, Dietrich W F, Flueckiger E O, Petersen E L, Shea M A, Smart D F, Smith E C 1997 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 44 2150 Google Scholar
[17]	Weller R A, Mendenhall M H, Reed R A, Schrimpf R D, Warren K M, Sierawski B D, Massengill L W 2010 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 57 1726 Google Scholar
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[20]	Gu S, Liu J, Zhao F Z, Zhang Z G, Bi J S, Geng C, Hou M D, Liu G, Liu T Q, Xi K 2015 Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 342 286 Google Scholar
[21]	张战刚 2013 博士学位论文 (北京: 中国科学院大学) Zhang Z G 2013 Ph. D. Dissertation (Beijing: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) (in Chinese)

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图 1 测试装置示意图

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the test setup.

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图 2 蒙卡仿真得到的65 nm SRAM硅片表面α粒子分布图

Figure 2. α particle distribution on the silicon surface of the 65 nm SRAM.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 3 蒙卡仿真得到的90 nm SRAM硅片表面α粒子分布图

Figure 3. α particle distribution on the silicon surface of the 90 nm SRAM.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 4 初始写入图形对SEU截面的影响

Figure 4. Impact of initial data pattern on SEU cross section.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 5 65 nm SRAM的反向分析结果　(a)横切面; (b)存储区图像

Figure 5. Reverse analysis results of the 65 nm SRAM: (a) Cross section; (b) memory area image.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 6 TRIM仿真结果　(a) α粒子在器件中的传播轨迹; (b)器件横断面视角下的α粒子轨迹(粒子初始入射位置为中心零点处)

Figure 6. TRIM simulation results: (a) The propagation trajectory of alpha particles in the device; (b) the alpha particle trajectory from the cross-sectional view of the device (the initial incident position of the particle is at the zero center).

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 7 65 nm工艺器件三维仿真模型

Figure 7. 3 D simulation model of the 65 nm device.

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图 8 不同入射角度下器件灵敏区中的沉积能量谱

Figure 8. Deposited energy spectra in sensitive regions of devices at different incident angles.

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图 9 α粒子在硅材料中的LET值与能量的关系

Figure 9. Relationship between LET value and energy of α particle in silicon material.

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图 10 不同入射角度下单粒子翻转截面与临界能量的关系

Figure 10. Relationship between single event upset cross section and critical energy at different incident angles.

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图 11 不同入射角度下的单粒子翻转截面

Figure 11. Single event upset cross section at different incident angles.

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图 12 边缘效应示意图(未按实际比例绘图)^[20,21]

Figure 12. Schematic diagram of edge effect (not scaled)^[20,21].

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表 1 使用的放射源参数

Table 1. Parameters of the radioactive source being used.

α粒子源	Am-241
放射率/粒子·2π^–1·min^–1	5.73 × 10⁵
尺寸	圆柱体, Φ18 mm, 1 mm厚

DownLoad: CSV

表 2 被测器件参数

Table 2. Parameters of the devices under test.

器件类型	型号	厂商	工艺尺寸/nm	测试容量/Mb	工作电压/V	硅片尺寸
DDR-II SRAM	CY7C1318	CYPRESS	65	1.125	1.8	5 mm × 8 mm
QDR-II SRAM	CY7C1412	CYPRESS	65	18	1.8	5 mm × 8 mm
SRAM	CY7C1019D	CYPRESS	90	1	3.3	2 mm × 2 mm

DownLoad: CSV

表 3 SEU截面测试结果

Table 3. Test results of SEU cross section.

器件	测试容量/Mb	粒子注量率/cm^–2·s^–1	测试时长	SEU数量	SEU截面/cm²·bit^–1
CY7 C1318(65 nm)	1.125	1.33 × 10³	7 min 52 s	204	2.76 × 10^–10
CY7 C1412(65 nm)	18	1.33 × 10³	3 min 41 s	1613	2.91 × 10^–10
CY7 C1019 D(90 nm)	1	7.42 × 10²	16 h	127	2.83 × 10^–12

DownLoad: CSV

表 4 α粒子发射率等级及对应的软错误率

Table 4. The α particle emissivity level and corresponding soft error rate.

α粒子发射率等级	发射率/cm^–2·h^–1	65 nm SRAM软错误率/FIT·Mb^–1	90 nm SRAM软错误率/FIT·Mb^–1
ULA	~0.001	3.03 × 10²	2.97
Low Alpha (LA)	~0.01	3.03 × 10³	29.7
Uncontrolled Alpha	~20	6.06 × 10⁶	5.94 × 10⁴

DownLoad: CSV

表 5 65 nm SRAM在4300 m海拔试验地点及北京海平面使用时的软错误率及α粒子、高能中子和热中子贡献占比

Table 5. Soft error rates of the 65 nm SRAM at the experimental site with an altitude of 4300 m and sea level of Beijing city being used. The contribution rates of α particle, high energy neutron and thermal neutron are analyzed, respectively.

粒子种类	4300 m海拔处的软错误率/FIT·Mb^–1	占比(4300 m海拔)	北京海平面处的软错误率/FIT·Mb^–1	占比(北京海平面)
全部	2356	100%	429	100%
α粒子	303	12.86%	303	70.63%
高能中子	2053	87.14%	126	29.37%
热中子	0	0%	0	0%

DownLoad: CSV

表 6 65 nm SRAM的存储单元尺寸和灵敏区参数

Table 6. Memory cell size and SV parameters of the 65 nm SRAM device.

器件	存储单元尺寸	灵敏区尺寸	灵敏区厚度/μm	重离子LET阈值/ MeV·cm²·mg^-1	临界能量/keV
65 nm SRAM	1 μm × 0.5 μm	0.2 μm × 0.19 μm	0.45	0.22^[19]	22.5^[19]

DownLoad: CSV

[1]	May T C, Woods M H 1979 IEEE Trans. Electron. Dev. ED-26 2
[2]	Bhuva B 2018 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) San Francisco, CA, USA, December 1−5, 2018 p34.4.1
[3]	Lei Z F, Zhang Z G, En Y F, Huang Y 2018 Chin. Phys. B 27 066105 Google Scholar
[4]	王勋, 张凤祁, 陈伟, 郭晓强, 丁李利, 罗尹虹 2019 物理学报 68 052901 Google Scholar Wang X, Zhang F Q, Chen W, Guo X Q, Ding L L, Luo Y H 2019 Acta Phys. Sin. 68 052901 Google Scholar
[5]	JESD89 A Measurement and Reporting of Alpha Particle and Terrestrial Cosmic Ray-Induced Soft Errors in Semiconductor Devices JEDEC standard, October 2006 [标准]
[6]	Auden E C, Quinn H M, Wender S A, O’ Donnell J M, Lisowski P W, George J S, Xu N, Black D A, Black J D 2020 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 67 29 Google Scholar
[7]	Weulersse C, Houssany S, Guibbaud N, Segura-Ruiz J, Beaucour J, Miller F, Mazurek M 2018 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 65 1851 Google Scholar
[8]	Autran J L, Munteanu D, Sauze S, Gasiot G, Roche P 2014 IEEE Radiation Effects Data Workshop (REDW) Paris, France, July 14−18, 2014 p1
[9]	Lee S, Uemura T, Monga U, Choi J H, Kim G, Pae S 2017 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) Monterey, CA, USA, April 2−6, 2017 pSE-1.1
[10]	Uemura T, Lee S, Min D, Moon I, Lim J, Lee S, Sagong H C, Pae S 2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) Burlingame, CA, USA, March 11−15, 2018 pSE.1-1
[11]	Fang Y, Oates A S 2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) Burlingame, CA, USA, March 11−15, 2018 p4C.2-1
[12]	Zhang Z, Lei Z, Tong T, Li X, Xi K, Peng C, Shi Q, He Y, Huang Y, En Y 2019 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 66 1368 Google Scholar
[13]	The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter, Ziegler J F http://www.srim.org/ [2019-7-3]
[14]	Ziegler J F, Biersack J P, Littmark U 1985 The Stopping and Range of Ions in Solids (New York: Pergamon Press)
[15]	Adams J H, Barghouty A F, Mendenhall M H, Reed R A, Sierawski B D, Warren K M, Watts J W, Weller R A 2012 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 59 3141 Google Scholar
[16]	Tylka A J, Adams J H, Boberg P R, Brownstein B, Dietrich W F, Flueckiger E O, Petersen E L, Shea M A, Smart D F, Smith E C 1997 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 44 2150 Google Scholar
[17]	Weller R A, Mendenhall M H, Reed R A, Schrimpf R D, Warren K M, Sierawski B D, Massengill L W 2010 IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 57 1726 Google Scholar
[18]	Mendenhall M H, Weller R A 2012 Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 667 38 Google Scholar
[19]	Zhang Z, Lei Z, En Y, Liu J 2016 Radiation Effects on Components & Systems Conference (RADECS) Bremen, Germany, September 19−23, 2016 PH14
[20]	Gu S, Liu J, Zhao F Z, Zhang Z G, Bi J S, Geng C, Hou M D, Liu G, Liu T Q, Xi K 2015 Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 342 286 Google Scholar
[21]	张战刚 2013 博士学位论文 (北京: 中国科学院大学) Zhang Z G 2013 Ph. D. Dissertation (Beijing: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) (in Chinese)

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