Research Bits: June 15


NAND in space Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and Pennsylvania State University built ferroelectric NAND flash memory chips that can withstand up to 30 times higher radiation levels compared to conventional NAND. “If you send traditional flash memory to space, the radiation interacting with flash memory’s trapped electric charge can easily corrupt the data,” said Asif... » read more

The One Bit Problem That Can Break a System


Key Takeaways: Bit flipping is no longer a rare reliability issue but a systemic risk driven by shrinking process nodes, higher clock speeds, lower voltages, and radiation exposure, leading to silent data corruption and potential system failure. The same mechanisms that cause accidental bit flips can be deliberately exploited through techniques such as clock, voltage, laser, and rowhamm... » read more

FeFETs With Laminated Gate Stacks For Radiation Resilience in Vertical NAND (Georgia Tech)


A new technical paper, "Enabling Radiation Hardness in Solid-State NAND Storage Utilizing a Laminated Ferroelectric Stack," was published by researchers at Georgia Tech. Abstract "NAND flash forms the core of modern solid-state storage, which is critical for data-intensive AI applications, yet charge-trap NAND suffers rapid threshold-voltage (Vth) degradation under ionizing radiation, causi... » read more

Optimize Digital Payloads With Radiation Hardened GaN


As the demand for greater communication bandwidth continues to grow, next-generation satellites must deliver higher data throughput for digital payloads. This shift to digital payloads requires engineers to reassess key design parameters, such as material needs, operational factors, and radiation robustness, to ensure optimal performance in their space power systems. Infineon HiRel’s new radi... » read more

Potential Of SnO2-x FETs for Radiation-Tolerant Electronics (KNU et al.)


A new technical paper titled "Effects of Proton Radiation on Tin Oxide: Implications for Space Electronics" was published by researchers at Kyungpook National University and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Abstract "This study examines the effects of 5 MeV proton irradiation, applied at fluences of 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012, 1 × 1013, and 1 × 1014 cm−2, on 20 nm thick SnO2-x th... » read more

Macro Defect Inspection For Mission-Critical Defense, Aerospace, And Advanced R&D Fabs


Some fabs build consumer chips that sit inside phones and laptops. Others build chips that must survive in orbit, under the Arctic ice, or deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Fabs serving defense, aerospace, national laboratories, and other advanced R&D programs operate under some of the most stringent requirements in the industry. For these facilities, yield is not the only concern. Sec... » read more

Overview Of Radiation Dose During X-ray Inspection Of Electronics


X-ray imaging of semiconductor and electronic devices is an invaluable tool; enabling non-invasive sub-surface inspection, identification of defects and measurement of critical dimensions. Figure 1 shows a schematic and description of a typical X-ray inspection system for electronics and semiconductor devices. Unfortunately, semiconductor devices are sensitive to sustained radiation dose, which... » read more

Low-Latency Interconnect for Close-Coupled On-Chip Communication With Error Correction Code Protection (ETH Zurich)


A new technical paper titled "relOBI: A Reliable Low-latency Interconnect for Tightly-Coupled On-chip Communication" was published by researchers at ETH Zurich. Excerpt "On-chip communication is a critical element of modern systems-on-chip (SoCs), allowing processor cores to interact with memory and peripherals. Interconnects require special care in radiation-heavy environments, as any soft... » read more

Research Bits: May 13


Benchmarking 3D-IC cooling Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and HRL Laboratories developed a specialized chip to test and validate cooling solutions for packaged chip stacks. The chip dissipates extremely high power, generating heat through the silicon layer and in localized hot spots to mimic high-performance logic chips. It then uses diodes to measure temperatu... » read more

Electronics Reliability In Space: Simulating Rad Hard Designs


Space is a harsh environment. There’s no breathable air, radiation levels are 15 times higher than on Earth, and the approximate temperature is 2.7 Kelvin (minus 270.45 degrees Celsius or minus 454.81 degrees Fahrenheit). Thankfully, Earth’s atmosphere does a great job protecting us from space’s intense climate. But because there is no atmosphere in space, there’s nothing to protect sat... » read more

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