Soft Errors Induced by Natural Radiation at Ground Level in Floating Gate Flash Memories

G. Just , Jean-Luc Autran (1) , S. Serre , Daniela Munteanu (1) , S. Sauze , A. Regnier , J. L. Ogier , P. Roche , G. Gasiot

1 IM2NP - Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence

This work reports the combined characterization at mountain altitude (on the ASTEP Platform at 2552 m) and at sea-level of more than similar to 50 Gbit of 90 nm NOR flash memories subjected to natural radiation (atmospheric neutrons). This wafer-level experiment evidences a limited impact of the terrestrial radiation at ground level on the memory SER evaluated without ECC. Experimental values are compared to estimations obtained from Monte Carlo simulation using the TIARA-G4 code combined with a physical model for charge loss in such floating-gate devices.

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

G. Just, Jean-Luc Autran, S. Serre, Daniela Munteanu, S. Sauze, et al.. Soft Errors Induced by Natural Radiation at Ground Level in Floating Gate Flash Memories. 2013 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM (IRPS), 2013, Monterey, United States. ⟨10.1109/IRPS.2013.6531992⟩. ⟨hal-01430082⟩