Chipworks Confirms Super Small Rad-Hard SRAM that Eliminates Soft-Error Threats.SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden -- Chipworks Inc. ("Chipworks") the standard setting supplier of reverse engineering services, announced today at SEMICON SEMICON Semiconductors Equipment and Material International Conference West that they are analyzing Renesas Technology's (Renesas) superSRAM device. Renesas has come up with an innovative solution to eliminate the soft error problems in SRAMs created by background radiation. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dick James This article is about the singer. For the American football player, see Dick James (American football). Dick James (born Reginald Leon Isaac Vapnick [1], 12 December 1920, in East End, London — died 1 February 1986) was the singer of the , a senior technology analyst with Chipworks, "When a nuclear particle such as a neutron or alpha-particle passes through a silicon chip, it will create a package of electrical charge which can change the charge state of a nearby transistor. This can flip the state of an SRAM See static RAM. SRAM - static random-access memory cell, causing a "soft error", in which the SRAM contains a data error, but is not physically damaged." "With current technologies, soft errors do not usually cause serious problems, although they are a major concern for the defense and aerospace industries, which typically use older technologies in order to avoid radiation-related data trouble. However, the continuing trend to smaller dimensions makes devices more vulnerable to soft errors, so the development of dense, radiation-hard memory capability is a significant improvement for some segments of the industry" commented James. Last September Renesas announced a line-up of large capacity, low-power "superSRAM" products which had achieved a small chip size through the development of a new type of memory cell. Because of the small size and low power consumption, the SRAMs were targeted for use in mobile devices such as cell-phones. James states that "the new product line is fabricated in 150nm technology, with an impressively small cell size of 0.97 micronsm2, smaller than many SRAM cells made in 90nm processes. The unique feature of the cell is the addition of a DRAM-style stacked capacitor at each node, which improves tolerance to the charge packets created by radiation, but also reduces access time, allowing smaller transistors. The capacitor is integrated vertically into the cell structure, so there is no increase in cell size, and the cell also contains polysilicon thin film transistors (TFTs) to enable the small 6T SRAM cell." Almost by coincidence, in December STMicroelectronics announced their rSRAM technology, which also incorporates a vertical DRAM-style stacked capacitor into the SRAM cell. STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope) A microscope that can image down to the atomic level. An STM uses a piezoelectric tube with a tiny sharp tip at the end that is moved within nanometers of the object being sampled. had fabricated test chips in a 120nm technology and had them radiation-tested at the Los Alamos Neutron Science center to confirm their radiation immunity. Renesas launched the R1LV1616R series of low voltage 16-Mbit SRAMs in June, in parallel with a paper at the VLSI VLSI: see integrated circuit. (1) (Very Large Scale Integration) Between 100,000 and one million transistors on a chip. See SSI, MSI, LSI and ULSI. (2) (VLSI Technology, Inc., Tempe, AZ, www.semiconductors. conference in Hawaii, where they confirmed the radiation tolerance of the superSRAM. The device is fabricated using a three metal, six poly, CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. process, featuring approximately 0.15 micronsm minimum gate length NMOS (N-Channel MOS) Pronounced "n-moss." A type of microelectronic circuit used for logic and memory chips. NMOS transistors are faster than their PMOS counterpart and more of them can be put on a single chip. It is also used in CMOS design. See MOSFET. and PMOS (Positive channel MOS) Pronounced "p-moss." A type of microelectronic circuit in which the base material is positively charged. PMOS transistors were used in the first microprocessors and are still used in CMOS. transistors in the SRAM array. Four MOS (1) (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) See MOSFET. (2) (Mean Opinion Score) The quality of a digitized voice line. It is a subjective measurement that is derived entirely by people listening to the calls and scoring the results from and two thin film transistors are used in each six transistor (6T) SRAM cell. Complete device findings will be made available later this summer in a full structural analysis report. For additional information on this report or other analysis reports published by Chipworks, please visit www.chipworks.com. About Chipworks Chipworks is an internationally recognized technical services company that analyzes the circuitry and physical composition of semiconductor chips and electronics systems for applications in patent licensing support and competitive study. Chipworks' technical experts use sophisticated lab facilities and a rich library of in-house semiconductor data and expertise to conduct detailed analyses of a wide selection of chip types. Chipworks develops high value, meticulously researched, on-time reports presented in a format that is easy to understand and tailored to customer needs. Since 1992, Chipworks has successfully helped semiconductor and electronics organizations achieve their goals by supporting research and development efforts and patent portfolio management. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, the Company has offices worldwide. Chipworks can be visited via the Internet at www.chipworks.com SEMICON WEST Booth 5983 |
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