B10 finding and correlation to thermal neutron soft error rate sensitivity for SRAMs in the sub-micron technology

Abstract

In this paper, we report the presence of B10 based on SIMS analysis in SRAM arrays in the 90nm to 45nm technology nodes. The physical presence of B10 correlated very well with the thermal neutron soft error rate (SER) sensitivity of SRAM cells. This result confirmed that without BPSG layer in advanced Si technologies, there is still a high possibility of B10 contamination from the Fab process. Furthermore, a root cause of possible B10 source is suggested based on SIMS results.