Modeling and analysis of single-event transient sensitivity of a 65 nm clock tree. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Yuanqing; Chen, Li; Nofal, Issam; Chen, Mo; Wang, Haibin; Liu, Rui; Chen, Qingyu; Krstic, Milos; Shi, Shuting; Guo, Gang; Baeg, Sang H.; Wen, Shi-Jie; Wong, Richard
• Is Part Of: Microelectronics and reliability. Volume 87(2018)
• Page Start: 24
• Page End: 32
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: Clock tree -- Modeling -- Single-event transient (SET); Electronic apparatus and appliances -- Reliability -- Periodicals; Miniature electronic equipment -- Periodicals; Appareils électroniques -- Fiabilité -- Périodiques; Équipement électronique miniaturisé -- Périodiques; Electronic apparatus and appliances -- Reliability; Miniature electronic equipment; Periodicals; 621.3815
• DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2018.05.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0026-2714

Abstract

Abstract: The soft error rate (SER) due to heavy-ion irradiation of a clock tree is investigated in this paper. A method for clock tree SER prediction is developed, which employs a dedicated soft error analysis tool to characterize the single-event transient (SET) sensitivities of clock inverters and other commercial tools to calculate the SER through fault-injection simulations. A test circuit including a flip-flop chain and clock tree in a 65 nm CMOS technology is developed through the automatic ASIC design flow. This circuit is analyzed with the developed method to calculate its clock tree SER. In addition, this circuit is implemented in a 65 nm test chip and irradiated by heavy ions to measure its SER resulting from the SETs in the clock tree. The experimental and calculation results of this case study present good correlation, which verifies the effectiveness of the developed method.