Frequency Dependence of Soft Error Rates Induced by Alpha-particle and Heavy Ion

Abstract

We conducted a study on the frequency dependence analysis of soft error rates using the test circuit composed of scan flip-flops (FFs) and inverters. By irradiating the circuit with alpha particles while the clock was running, soft error rates were measured. During alpha-particle irradiation, soft errors caused by inverters were almost negligible. Soft errors caused by FFs decreases as the operating frequency increases. On the other hand, during Ar irradiation, soft error rate was nearly constant with varying frequency. This is because, the increase in soft errors caused by inverters was roughly equal to the decrease in soft errors caused by FFs unlike alpha-particle irradiation.