Soft Errors in Commercial Semiconductor Technology: Overview and Scaling Trends

We will examine the three radiation mechanisms responsible for soft errors and see how these sources can be quantified and their impact predicted. We will consider scaling trends in soft error performance and conclude by touching on common design and process strategies used to reduce soft error rate.

Robert Baumann

Upon joining Texas Instrument in 1989 Dr. Baumann pioneered much of TI’s soft error program where he made significant contributions to the understanding of alpha and neutron effects including the discovery that activation of 10B in BPSG by low energy neutrons can be a significant source of soft errors in advanced low-voltage technologies. He is currently a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Texas Instruments, Dallas, focused on radiation-induced soft errors in advanced SRAM and logic devices. He is one of the primary authors of the SER JEDEC test specification JESD-89. Robert is acting Chairman of the International SEMATECH committee on radiation effects and is Senior Member of the IEEE.