Impact of Single-Event Upsets in Deep-Submicron Silicon Technology

The once-ephemeral soft error phenomenon has recently caused considerable concern for manufacturers of advanced silicon technology. Soft errors, if unchecked, now have the potential for inducing a higher failure rate than all of the other reliability- failure mechanisms combined. This article briefly reviews the three dominant radiation mechanisms responsible for soft errors in terrestrial applications and how soft errors are generated by the collection of radiation-induced charge. Scaling trends in the soft error sensitivity of various memory and logic components are presented, along with a consideration of which applications are most likely to require intervention. Some of the mitigation strategies that can be employed to reduce the soft error rate in these devices are also discussed.