Mechanism and Quantitative ModellingModeling of the SRAM’s Soft Error Induced by Space Electrostatic Discharge

The study investigates the characteristics, sensitive regions, failure mechanism, and quantitative model of SRAM’s “soft errors” caused by Spacecraft charging induced Electrostatic Discharge (SESD) in HSPICE simulation. The results showed that the bit ‘1-0’ upset was manifested as one of the main characteristics of the soft errors caused by the SESD. The SESD sensitive regions were located at the sense amplifier (AMP) and the 6T Bit-cell array with the SESD injecting at power supply nodes. The reduction of the voltage difference between the two output nodes to offset voltage in AMP and the recoverable breakdown in 6T-cell’s P-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (PMOS) induced by the SESD transients are the main failure mechanisms. The quantization calculation model of the “soft error” induced by SESD for SRAM was established using MATLAB according to its failure mechanism, which bridged the characteristics of SESD transient with SRAM’s “soft error” to quickly evaluate the SESD errors. In addition, the quantization model was preliminarily verified by the SESD experiments.