Soft Error in Saddle Fin Based DRAM

Soft error effects due to the alpha particle and terrestrial neutron strike are investigated in a saddle fin DRAM using the 3D TCAD simulation. The strike location and angle dependency are investigated, and the worst-case incidence condition is studied. As the strike time is relevant for the error pattern, the strike during the write period is found to have minor effect, but the strike during the hold period shows data corruption. The inter-active disturbance is effectively suppressed due to the shallow trench isolation, but the inter-active ionizing radiation disturbance can be a potential risk as the capacitance of the storage capacitor continues to reduce with the DRAM technology scaling.