Secondary Particles Generated by Protons in 3-D nand Flash Memories

We studied the secondary byproducts created by high-energy protons inside a single-event upset (SEU) detector based on 3-D NAND Flash memories, extending the previously developed methodology used for detecting heavy ions. The radiation response of the SEU monitor was discussed as a function of proton energy, analyzing parameters such as the number of clusters per particle, the cluster size, and the angle of the generated secondaries. The results provide interesting insight into the nuclear reactions occurring in state-of-the-art electronic chips, in addition to showing the usefulness of 3-D NAND Flash memories for monitoring proton beams.