Effects of metal spacing and poly-silicon layers on pulsed-laser single event transient testing

This paper investigates the influence of metal spacing and poly-crystalline silicon gate and silicide technology on single event transients (SETs) occurring in pulsed laser irradiated test patterns based on 0.18 μm partially depleted silicon-on-insulator complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. Laser-induced transients were measured and analyzed in detail, including SET rise time, fall time, pulse width, pulse maximum, and collected charge. The quantitative dependence of the SET characteristics on metal spacing and silicide processing is reported. This information is useful for optimal design of test structures to evaluate soft errors in integrated circuits.