Title :
Improvement of alpha-particle-induced soft-error immunity in a GaAs SRAM by a buried p-layer
Author :
Umemoto, Yasunari ; Masuda, Noboru ; Shigeta, Junji ; Mitsusada, Kazumichi
Author_Institution :
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
fDate :
3/1/1988 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Alpha-particle-induced soft-error immunity in a 1-kB GaAs SRAM was improved by a buried p-layer, which was formed in isolation regions as well as in FET regions and was designed to be completely depleted. The mean time between failures exceeded 104 at an alpha-particle fluence of about 2.0×104 cm-2-s-1 with a 1.0-μCi241Am source. The alpha-particle energy had a peak at 4.0 MeV and was distributed from nearly 0 to 4.6 MeV. This value is five orders of magnitude better than that for a conventional SRAM without a buried p-layer. This improvement in the soft-error immunity can be achieved without increasing the access time or the power consumption by depleting the p-layer completely. Also discussed is the possibility of using a conductive p-layer scheme for higher integration of GaAs SRAMs
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; alpha-particle effects; field effect integrated circuits; gallium arsenide; integrated circuit testing; integrated memory circuits; radiation hardening (electronics); random-access storage; 0 to 4.6 MeV; 1 kbit; FET regions; GaAs; SRAM; alpha-particle energy; alpha-particle-induced soft-error immunity; buried p-layer; conductive p-layer scheme; isolation regions; mean time between failures; Alpha particles; Circuits; Computer errors; Energy consumption; FETs; Gallium arsenide; Helium; Large scale integration; MESFETs; Random access memory;
Journal_Title :
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
