This chapter describes a new computational approach for accurately modeling radiation-induced single-event transient current and charge collection at circuit level. This approach, called random-walk drift-diffusion (RWDD), is a fast Monte Carlo particle method based on a random-walk process that takes into account both diffusion and drift of carriers in a non-constant electric field both in space and time. After introducing the physical insights of the RWDD model, the chapter details the practical implementation of the method using an object-oriented programming language and its parallelization on graphical processing units. Besides, the capability of the approach to treat multiple node charge collection is presented. The chapter also details the coupling of the model either with an internal routine or with SPICE for circuit solving. Finally, the proposed approach is illustrated at device and circuit level, considering four different test vehicles in 65 nm technologies: a stand-alone transistor, a CMOS inverter, a SRAM cell and a flip-flop circuit. RWDD results are compared with data obtained from a full three-dimensional (3D) numerical approach (TCAD simulations) at transistor level. The importance of the circuit feedback on the charge-collection process is also demonstrated for devices connected to other circuit nodes.

We address accurate computation of on-orbit upset rates in advanced technologies, with a focus on FD-SOI at the 28 nm node. Heavy-ion measurements performed on FD-SOI SRAM bit-cells give experimental evidence of the technology's intrinsic robustness in space environments; this extreme reduction of sensitive volume dimensions deeply affects the assumptions pertaining to the radiation response models used to predict upset rates. The generic "Integral Rectangular ParallelePiped" (IRPP) model, although requiring careful setting of its parameters, provides us with first-order estimates of the error rate. We then present a custom FD-SOI response model within our Monte-Carlo simulation chain, enabling comparison with IRPP and further analyses.

No abstract