Rad-hard Semiconductor Memories is intended for researchers and professionals interested in understanding how to design and make a preliminary evaluation of rad-hard semiconductor memories, making leverage on standard CMOS manufacturing processes available from different silicon foundries and using different technology nodes.In the first part of the book, a preliminary overview of the effects of radiation in space, with a specific focus on memories, will be conducted to enable the reader to understand why specific design solutions are adopted to mitigate hard and soft errors. The second part will be devoted to RHBD (Radiation Hardening by Design) techniques for semiconductor components with a specific focus on memories. The approach will follow a top-down scheme starting from RHBD at architectural level (how to build a rad-hard floor-plan), at circuit level (how to mitigate radiation effects by handling transistors in the proper way) and at layout level (how to shape a layout to mitigate radiation effects).After the description of the mitigation techniques, the book enters in the core of the topic covering SRAMs (synchronous, asynchronous, single port and dual port) and PROMs (based on AntiFuse OTP technologies), describing how to design a rad-hard flash memory and fostering RHBD toward emerging memories like ReRAM. The last part will be a leap into emerging memories at a very early stage, not yet ready for industrial use in silicon but candidates to become an option for the next wave of rad-hard components. Technical topics discussed in the book include:  Radiation effects on semiconductor components (TID, SEE) Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) Techniques Rad-hard SRAMs Rad-hard PROMs Rad-hard Flash NVMs Rad-hard ReRAMs Rad-hard emerging technologies

Rad-hard Semiconductor Memories is intended for researchers and professionals interested in understanding how to design and make a preliminary evaluation of rad-hard semiconductor memories, making leverage on standard CMOS manufacturing processes available from different silicon foundries and using different technology nodes. In the first part of the book, a preliminary overview of the effects of radiation in space, with a specific focus on memories, will be conducted to enable the reader to understand why specific design solutions are adopted to mitigate hard and soft errors. The second part will be devoted to RHBD (Radiation Hardening by Design) techniques for semiconductor components with a specific focus on memories. The approach will follow a top-down scheme starting from RHBD at architectural level (how to build a rad-hard floor-plan), at circuit level (how to mitigate radiation effects by handling transistors in the proper way) and at layout level (how to shape a layout to mitigate radiation effects). After the description of the mitigation techniques, the book enters in the core of the topic covering SRAMs (synchronous, asynchronous, single port and dual port) and PROMs (based on AntiFuse OTP technologies), describing how to design a rad-hard flash memory and fostering RHBD toward emerging memories like ReRAM. The last part will be a leap into emerging memories at a very early stage, not yet ready for industrial use in silicon but candidates to become an option for the next wave of rad-hard components. Technical topics discussed in the book include: Radiation effects on semiconductor components (TID, SEE)Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) TechniquesRad-hard SRAMsRad-hard PROMsRad-hard Flash NVMsRad-hard ReRAMsRad-hard emerging technologies

Nanoscale memories are used everywhere. From your iPhone to a supercomputer, every electronic device contains at least one such type. With coverage of current and prototypical technologies, Nanoscale Semiconductor Memories: Technology and Applications presents the latest research in the field of nanoscale memories technology in one place. It also covers a myriad of applications that nanoscale memories technology has enabled. The book begins with coverage of SRAM, addressing the design challenges as the technology scales, then provides design strategies to mitigate radiation induced upsets in SRAM. It discusses the current state-of-the-art DRAM technology and the need to develop high performance sense amplifier circuitry. The text then covers the novel concept of capacitorless 1T DRAM, termed as Advanced-RAM or A-RAM, and presents a discussion on quantum dot (QD) based flash memory. Building on this foundation, the coverage turns to STT-RAM, emphasizing scalable embedded STT-RAM, and the physics and engineering of magnetic domain wall "racetrack" memory. The book also discusses state-of-the-art modeling applied to phase change memory devices and includes an extensive review of RRAM, highlighting the physics of operation and analyzing different materials systems currently under investigation. The hunt is still on for universal memory that fits all the requirements of an "ideal memory" capable of high-density storage, low-power operation, unparalleled speed, high endurance, and low cost. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book bridges technological and application issues to provide the groundwork for developing custom designed memory systems.

Ionizing Radiation Effects in Electronics: From Memories to Imagers delivers comprehensive coverage of the effects of ionizing radiation on state-of-the-art semiconductor devices. The book also offers valuable insight into modern radiation-hardening techniques. The text begins by providing important background information on radiation effects, their underlying mechanisms, and the use of Monte Carlo techniques to simulate radiation transport and the effects of radiation on electronics. The book then: Explains the effects of radiation on digital commercial devices, including microprocessors and volatile and nonvolatile memories—static random-access memories (SRAMs), dynamic random-access memories (DRAMs), and Flash memories Examines issues like soft errors, total dose, and displacement damage, together with hardening-by-design solutions for digital circuits, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and mixed-analog circuits Explores the effects of radiation on fiber optics and imager devices such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensors and charge-coupled devices (CCDs) Featuring real-world examples, case studies, extensive references, and contributions from leading experts in industry and academia, Ionizing Radiation Effects in Electronics: From Memories to Imagers is suitable both for newcomers who want to become familiar with radiation effects and for radiation experts who are looking for more advanced material or to make effective use of beam time.

The book is intended for researchers and professionals interested in understanding how to design and make a preliminary characterization of Radiation Hardened (rad-hard) analog and mixed-signal circuits, exploiting standard CMOS manufacturing processes available from different silicon foundries and using different technology nodes. It starts with an introductory overview of the effects of radiation in space and harsh environments with a specific focus on analog circuits to enable the reader to understand why specific design solutions are adopted to mitigate hard/soft errors. The following four Chapters are devoted to RHBD (Radiation Hardening by Design) techniques for semiconductor components applied to Operational Amplifiers, Voltage References, Analog-to-Digital (ADC) and Digital-to-Analog (DAC) converters. Each Chapter is organized with a first part which recalls the basic working principles of such circuit and a second part which describes the main RHBD techniques proposed in the literature to make them resilient to radiation. The approach follows a top-down scheme starting from RHBD at circuit level (how to mitigate radiation effects by handling transistors in the proper way) and finishing at layout level (how to shape a layout to mitigate radiation effects). The last-but-one Chapter is devoted to a special class of analog circuit, the dosimeters, which are gaining importance in space, health and nuclear applications. By leveraging the characteristic of a Flash-memory cell, a re-usable dosimeter is described which includes the sensitive element itself, the analog interface and the process of characterization. The last part is an overview of the strategies adopted for the testing of analog and mixed-signal circuits. In particular, it will focus also on the measurement campaigns performed by the Authors aiming for the characterization of developed rad-hard components under total dose (TID) and single-events (SEE). Technical topics discussed in the book include: - Radiation effects on semiconductor components (TID, SEE) - Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) Techniques - Rad-hard Operational Amplifiers - Rad-hard Voltage References - Rad-hard ADC - Rad-hard DAC - Rad-hard Special Circuits - Testing Strategies

Research on radiation-tolerant electronics has increased rapidly over the past few years, resulting in many interesting approaches to modeling radiation effects and designing radiation-hardened integrated circuits and embedded systems. This research is strongly driven by the growing need for radiation-hardened electronics for space applications, high-energy physics experiments such as those on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and many terrestrial nuclear applications including nuclear energy and nuclear safety. With the progressive scaling of integrated circuit technologies and the growing complexity of electronic systems, their susceptibility to ionizing radiation has raised many exciting challenges, which are expected to drive research in the coming decade. In this book we highlight recent breakthroughs in the study of radiation effects in advanced semiconductor devices, as well as in high-performance analog, mixed signal, RF, and digital integrated circuits. We also focus on advances in embedded radiation hardening in both FPGA and microcontroller systems and apply radiation-hardened embedded systems for cryptography and image processing, targeting space applications.