Simulation of multiple-bit soft errors induced by cosmic ray neutrons in DRAMs

Abstract

Although it has been shown that cosmic ray neutrons play an important role in soft error (SE) phenomena, some important issues in neutron-induced SE phenomena are still to be clarified. In this paper, neutron-induced multiple-bit SEs in 16 Mb DRAMs are investigated numerically using the Neutron-Induced Soft Error Simulator (NISES), and simulated results are compared to experimental data. Scaling effects on multiple-bit SEs, effects of configuration patterns on double-bit SE rates, and the influence of multiple-bit SEs on an error correction code are discussed.