Practicality of evaluating soft errors in commercial sub-90 nm CMOS for space applications

Abstract

Abstract-Inclusion of commercial technologies in civil spaceflight applications is reality. These technologies enable higher performance, reduce power consumption, and ultimately yield better science. However, the benefits do not come without cost, and radiation-induced soft errors in advanced, sub-90 nm CMOS technologies present new challenges. These challenges include sensitivity to proton direct ionization, memory technology evaluation, as well as testing and evaluation complexity.

Test methodology of a new upset mechanism induced by protons in deep sub-micron devices

“…9 MeV with the beveled moderator shows three distinct areas reflecting the sensitivity to direct ionization of protons and no MCUs (Multiple-Cell Upset) were detected in the direct ionization area. Fig.…”

“…Their limited ranges and the energy straggling phenomenon make the experiments tricky. Finally, as pointed out in [8,9] and in Fig. 1, the various software tools acknowledged as reference tools for the computation of the electronic stopping power, such as SRIM or BNL LET calculator, do not give the same results below 100 keV, since the spread in experimental data becomes larger with decreasing energies.…”

“…1). Several challenges can be identified when testing Single Event Effect (SEE) to low energy protons [9].…”

“…Nevertheless, its experimental characterization is not simple [8,9]. This paper first reviews the issues of testing and evaluating the low proton energy sensitivity.…”