COSMIC-RAY SOFT ERROR RATES OF 16-MB DRAM MEMORY CHIPS

Manufactured 16-Mb DRAM memory chips use three different cell technolo gies for bit storage: stacked capacitors, trenches with internal charg e, and trenches with external charge, We have measured the soft fail p robability of 26 different 16-Mb chips produced by nine vendors to eva luate whether the different cell technologies have an impact on the ch ip soft error rate. This testing involved irradiation with neutrons, p rotons, and pions, the principle hadrons of terrestrial cosmic rays, T he results show clear differences in soft-fail sensitivity, which appe ars to be related to the cell structure.