Angular Effects on Single-Event Mechanisms in Bulk FinFET Technologies

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 223 - 230
• Main Authors: Nsengiyumva, Patrick, Massengill, Lloyd W., Kauppila, Jeffrey S., Maharrey, Jeffrey A., Harrington, Rachel C., Haeffner, Timothy D., Ball, Dennis R., Alles, Michael L., Bhuva, Bharat L., Holman, W. Timothy, Zhang, En Xia, Rowe, Jason D., Sternberg, Andrew L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.01.2018; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Angular single-event effects (SEEs); CAD; Charge deposition; Circuit design; compact models; Computer aided design; Field effect transistors; fin field-effect transistor (FinFET); FinFETs; flip-flop; Periodic structures; SE upset (SEU); SEE; Silicon; Single event upsets; Substrates; Technology assessment; technology computer-aided design (TCAD) modeling; Three-dimensional displays; Two dimensional displays
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2017.2775234

Angular single-event (SE) mechanisms and experimental upset data for 14-/16-nm bulk fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) technologies are presented and analyzed. The discrete structure of FinFETs introduces unique geometrical and orientation dependences for angular SE mechanisms and SE upset (SEU) responses of FinFET circuits. Geometric analyses and 3-D technology computer-aided design results effectively explain the angular mechanisms behind experimentally observed SE crosssectional responses. Results show that angular SEU crosssectional characteristics can be attributed to the proportional contributions of charge deposition regions in the fin structure and the subfin bulk substrate.