Neutron-induced soft error in logic devices using quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam

The neutron-induced soft error in logic devices was investigated using a quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam. The SER of the flip-flop circuit is approximately 1/3/spl sim/1/5, that of the embedded SRAM per bit. Taking into account the increasing circuit scale, SER of logic circuit can no longer be ignored. As the node charge of the cell becomes less than 6fC, the SER mainly occurs due to the light particles generated by a nuclear reaction between neutrons and Si nuclei. We propose a method of SER estimation for various embedded SRAMs and data-latch circuits with various layout designs in logic devices using the SER normalized by the n+ diffusion area of the memory node.