0000000000142052
AUTHOR
Angelo Visconti
Key Contributions to the Cross Section of NAND Flash Memories Irradiated With Heavy Ions
Heavy-ion irradiation of NAND flash memories under operating conditions leads to errors with complex, data-dependent signatures. We present upsets due to hits in the floating gate array and in the peripheral circuitry, discussing their peculiarities in terms of pattern dependence and annealing. We also illustrate single event functional interruptions, which lead to errors during erase and program operations. To account for all the phenomena we observe during and after irradiation, we propose an ldquoeffective cross section,rdquo which takes into account the array and peripheral circuitry contributions to the SEU sensitivity, as well as the operating conditions.
Neutron-induced soft errors in advanced Flash memories
Atmospheric neutrons are a known source of Soft Errors (SE), in static and dynamic CMOS memories. This paper shows for the first time that atmospheric neutrons are able to induce SE in Flash memories as well. Detailed experimental results provide an explanation linking the Floating Gate (FG) cell SE rate to the physics of the neutron-matter interaction. The neutron sensitivity is expected to increase with the number of bits per cell and the reduction of the feature size, but the SE issue is within the limit of current ECC capabilities and will remain so in the foreseeable future.
Single Event Upsets Induced by Direct Ionization from Low-Energy Protons in Floating Gate Cells
Floating gate cells in advanced NAND Flash memories, with single-level and multi-level cell architecture, were exposed to low-energy proton beams. The first experimental evidence of single event upsets by proton direct ionization in floating gate cells is reported. The dependence of the error rate versus proton energy is analyzed in a wide energy range. Proton direct ionization events are studied and energy loss in the overlayers is discussed. The threshold LET for floating gate errors in multi-level and single-level cell devices is modeled and technology scaling trends are analyzed, also discussing the impact of the particle track size. peerReviewed
Traces of errors due to single ion in floating gate memories
Single, high energy, high LET, ions impacting on a Floating gate array at grazing or near-grazing angles lead to the creation of long traces of FGs with corrupted information. Every time a FG is crossed by a single ion, it experiences a charge loss which permanently degrades the stored information. If the ion crosses more than one FG, the threshold voltage of all those FGs interested by its track will be degraded.
Can Atmospheric Neutrons Induce Soft Errors in NAND Floating Gate Memories?
Atmospheric neutrons can interact with the matter inside a microelectronic chip and generate ionizing particles, which in turn can change the state of one or more memory bits [soft error (SE)]. In this letter, we show that SEs are possible in Flash memories, although with extremely low probabilities. While this problem will increase for future technologies, we do not expect SEs to be the reliability limiting factor for further floating gate scaling.
Effect of Ion Energy on Charge Loss From Floating Gate Memories
Heavy ions typical of the space environment have energies which exceed by orders of magnitude those available at particle accelerators. In this paper we are irradiating state of the art floating gate memories by using both a medium energy (SIRAD) and a high energy (RADEF) facilities. The corruption of stored information decreases when increasing ion energy. The proposed model deals with the broader track found for higher energy ions. Implications for testing procedures and for reliability considerations are discussed.