Frequency Dependency of Soft Error Rates Based on Dynamic Soft Error Measurements

We conducted a study on the frequency dependence analysis of soft error rates using flip-flops (FF) and inverters. The measurement circuit consists of scan FFs and inverters. By irradiating the circuit with alpha particles while the clock was running, the soft error rates were measured. The results showed that soft errors caused by inverters were almost negligible. On the other hand, the soft errors caused by FFs decreased as the operating frequency increased. The time window when the FF cannot capture its input until the rising edge of the clock is fixed at any clock frequency. As a result, as the operating frequency increases, the ratio of where errors are not captured to time in one cycle becomes larger.