0000000000441462

AUTHOR

Lucas Matana Luza

Effects of Thermal Neutron Irradiation on a Self-Refresh DRAM

International audience; In this study, static and dynamic test methods were used to define the response of a self-refresh DRAM under thermal neutron irradiation. The neutron-induced failures were investigated and characterized by event cross-sections, soft-error rate and bitmaps evaluations, leading to an identification of permanent and temporarily stuck cells, block errors, and single-bit upsets.

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Neutron-Induced Effects on a Self-Refresh DRAM

International audience; The field of radiation effects in electronics research includes unknowns for every new device, node size, and technical development. In this study, static and dynamic test methods were used to define the response of a self-refresh DRAM under neutron irradiation. The neutron-induced effects were investigated and characterised by event cross sections, soft-error rate, and bitmaps evaluations, leading to an identification of permanent and temporary stuck cells, single-bit upsets, and block errors. Block errors were identified in different patterns with dependency in the addressing order, leading to up to two thousand faulty words per event, representing a real threat fr…

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Technology Impact on Neutron-Induced Effects in SDRAMs : A Comparative Study

International audience; This study analyses the response of synchronous dynamic random access memories to neutron irradiation. Three different generations of the same device with different node sizes (63, 72, and 110 nm) were characterized under an atmospheric-like neutron spectrum at the ChipIr beamline in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, UK. The memories were tested with a reduced refresh rate to expose more single-event upsets and under similar conditions provided by a board specifically developed for this type of study in test facilities. The board has also been designed to be used as a nanosatellite payload in order to perform similar tests. The neutron-induced failures were studi…

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Investigating the Impact of Radiation-Induced Soft Errors on the Reliability of Approximate Computing Systems

International audience; Approximate Computing (AxC) is a well-known paradigm able to reduce the computational and power overheads of a multitude of applications, at the cost of a decreased accuracy. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have proven to be particularly suited for AxC because of their inherent resilience to errors. However, the implementation of AxC techniques may affect the intrinsic resilience of the application to errors induced by Single Events in a harsh environment. This work introduces an experimental study of the impact of neutron irradiation on approximate computing techniques applied on the data representation of a CNN.

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Electron-Induced Upsets and Stuck Bits in SDRAMs in the Jovian Environment

This study investigates the response of synchronous dynamic random access memories to energetic electrons and especially the possibility of electrons to cause stuck bits in these memories. Three different memories with different node sizes (63, 72, and 110 nm) were tested. Electrons with energies between 6 and 200 MeV were used at RADiation Effects Facility (RADEF) in Jyvaskyla, Finland, and at Very energetic Electron facility for Space Planetary Exploration missions in harsh Radiative environments (VESPER) in The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland. Photon irradiation was also performed in Jyvaskyla. In these irradiation tests, stuck bits originating from electro…

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