Single event-induced error propagation through nominally-off transmission gates

A single event-induced false latching mechanism in 65-nm D-flip-flops is identified and attributed to transient propagation through nominally-off CMOS transmission gates. This is a circuit-level effect initialized by single event transient (SET) pulses that causes the hit node voltage to exceed the voltage supply rails. Smaller devices are more susceptible to this effect because of smaller nodal capacitances. Circuit simulations indicate that this effect increases the temporal window where a data bit is vulnerable to a node strike by a quarter clock cycle.