Latent damage in CMOS devices from single-event latchup

Author

Becker, Heidi N. ; Miyahira, Tetsuo F. ; Johnston, Allan H.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

49

Issue

6

fYear

2002

fDate

12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3009

Lastpage

3015

Abstract

Evaluation of several types of CMOS devices after nondestructive latchup revealed structural changes in interconnects that appears to be due to localized ejection of part of the metallization due to melting. This is a potential reliability hazard for CMOS devices because it creates localized voids within interconnects that reduce the cross section by one to two orders of magnitude in the damaged region. These effects must be considered when testing devices for damage from latchup, as well as in establishing limits for current detection and shutdown as a means of latchup protection.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; analogue-digital conversion; digital signal processing chips; electromigration; integrated circuit interconnections; integrated circuit metallisation; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; ion beam effects; laser beam effects; melting; oscillators; space vehicle electronics; voids (solid); ADC; CMOS devices; DSP; cross section reduction; current detection limits; electromigration; heavy ion irradiation; interconnect structural changes; laser tests; latchup protection; latent damage; localized metallization ejection; localized voids; melting; nondestructive latchup; oscillator; reliability hazard; shutdown limits; single-event latchup; space applications; CMOS technology; Hazards; Integrated circuit interconnections; Metallization; NASA; Optical microscopy; Propulsion; Protection; Space technology; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2002.805332

Filename

1134254