Predicting Neutron SERs from Alpha-Ray Test Results Through SEU Physics Parameter Extraction

We propose a method to predict cosmic-ray high- energy neutron soft-error rates (nSERs) from <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\alpha$</tex> -ray test results. This method may overcome the famous hurdle that <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\alpha$</tex> -ray results cannot predict neutron effects. We show SRAM test results demonstrating the validity of the method across generations from 20-nm planar to 12-nm FinFET nodes. The method is simple: fit an equation to measured <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\alpha$</tex> -ray cross-sections and then substitute the fit results into another equation to calculate nSERs.