Nuclear microprobe imaging of single-event upsets

An imaging technique has been developed which produces micron-resolution maps of where single-event upsets occur during ion irradiation of integrated circuits. From these 'upset images' the identity and size of a circuit's upset-prone components can be directly determined. Utilizing a scanning nuclear microprobe, this imaging technique selectively exposes the lowest functional units of an integrated circuit (e.g. transistor drains, gates) and immediately measures the effect of a high-energy ion strike on circuit performance. Information about an integrated circuit's radiation hardness (i.e. total dose response and threshold upset LET), which has previously been acquired at the circuit level, can also be measured at the individual transistor level. Such detailed spatial characterization, provides a novel precision diagnostic technique with which to study single-event upset processes in integrated circuits.<
>