Method and apparatus to make a semiconductor chip susceptible to radiation failure

Methods and apparatus are provided for reducing the overall radiation hardness of a semiconductor chip. A radiation detector and a failure memory are provided. A disable signal or signals is produced by the failure memory. The disable signal is a required input to a user logic function, such as an o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Friend, David Michael, Van Phan, Nghia, Rohn, Michael James
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 21.06.2005
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Summary:Methods and apparatus are provided for reducing the overall radiation hardness of a semiconductor chip. A radiation detector and a failure memory are provided. A disable signal or signals is produced by the failure memory. The disable signal is a required input to a user logic function, such as an off chip driver, an off chip receiver, a clock, or a static random access memory. When the radiation detector detects radiation, that detection is stored in the failure memory. The disable signal, when active, causes some or all of the user function to be inoperative. This invention is particularly important when the semiconductor chip is produced in a silicon on insulator (SOI) Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process, which is naturally radiation resistant.