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When designing radiation hardened integrated circuits, especially memory chips, it becomes necessary to consider the propagation of currents caused by a heavy charged particle that has stroked the device. A decrease in technological norms and an increase in packing density enhance the likelihood of multiple cells upset caused by diffusion currents. The analysis of these effects is a complex computational problem, the laboriousness of which increases with a decrease in elements feature size. In this work, an approach is presented based on the use of TCAD capabilities for simulating the structural regions of nanoscale ICs. A TCAD model in cylindrical coordinates for simulation of charge generation and collection after the impact of a heavy charged particle on a MOS structure has been proposed. The described technique allows quick estimation of the values of the diffusion current caused by heavy charged particle passing through an n+ region of a certain area. Taking this approach to a memory cell it is possible to determine at what distance from the point of the heavy charged particle impact the diffusion current exceeds the boundary current at which the radiation-induced failure in a memory cell occurs. This allows the estimation of multiple cell upsets probability and the adjustment of layout for these factors, as well as an analytical assessment of the upset cross-section before the production and testing of the integrated circuit.
  • Key words: CMOS IC, heavy charged particle, radiation hardening, TCAD, memory cell
  • Published in: Brief reports
  • Bibliography link: Smirnova V. P., Krupkina T. Yu. TCAD simulation of a heavy charged particle impact on a n-MOS structure as a part of a memory cell. Proc. Univ. Electronics, 2023, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 385–390. https://doi.org/ 10.24151/1561-5405-2023-28-3-385-390. – EDN: JBECTY.
  • Financial source: the work has been supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 20-37-90005).
Vera P. Smirnova
National Research University of Electronic Technology (Russia, 124498, Moscow, Zelenograd, Shokin sq., 1)
Tatiana Yu. Krupkina
National Research University of Electronic Technology (Russia, 124498, Moscow, Zelenograd, Shokin sq., 1)

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