Soft-error-immune switched-load-resistor memory cell

A soft-error-immune switched-load-resistor memory cell especially suitable for ultrahigh-speed bipolar RAM has been developed. The memory cell is composed of upward sidewall base contact structure (SICOS) transistors and shielded Schottky-barrier diodes (SBDs). Alpha-particle-induced noise charges generated in the p^--substrate are completely shielded by n⁺-buried layers of the transistors and the SBDs. Only the noise charges generated in the transistors or the SBDs active regions are gathered in the collectors of the memory cell. The maximum collected noise charge is reduced to a quarter of that of conventional memory cells using SICOS downward transistors and conventional SBDs. Experiments show that this reduction of the collected noise charge increases soft-error immunity to more than 10⁵ times that of conventional memory cells. This result using hot radiation sources does not directly correspond to the real soft-error rate in the field, but demonstrates the realization of an ultrahigh-speed soft-error-immune memory cell