Adjacent n-type and p-type regions in CMOS circuits
may form a parasitic thyristor composed of two pairs
of parasitic bipolar transistors. A spurious current spike
in one of these transistors may be amplified by the
large positive feedback of the thyristor and cause a virtual short between Vdd and ground, resulting in a
latchup. A single-event latchup (SEL) occurs when the
spurious spike is induced by an ionizing particle.
Single-event latchup (SEL) is one of the most threatening single event occurrences possible, as the induced current may destroy the affected device. Existing latchup mitigation schemes may induce a very high area cost or may require modifying the fabrication process. In this paper, a new single-event latchup mitigation approach is presented, to be implemented at the design level. The technique protects devices from destruction and preserves circuit state at very low area cost.
iRoC Technologies is a semiconductor intellectual property (IP) company that designs, develops, and licenses cores and technologies in order to improve electronic system reliability, availability, and security using standard CMOS processes.
TIMA Laboratory conducts research in the field of electronics, organizes conferences, and edits journals. Its research serves the electronics industry and is centered on the design, architecture,... Read More
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