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Layer-Dependent Bit Error Variation in 3-D NAND Flash Under Ionizing Radiation

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

In this paper, we studied the total ionization dose (TID) effects on the multilevel-cell (MLC) 3-D NAND flash memory using Co-60 gamma radiation. We found a significant page-to-page bit error variation within a physical memory block of the irradiated memory chip. Our analysis showed that the origin of the bit error variation is the unique vertical layer-dependent TID response of the 3-D NAND. We found that the memory pages located at the upper and lower layers of the 3-D stack show higher fails compared to the middle-layer pages of a given memory block. We confirmed our findings by comparing radiation response of four different chips of the same specification. In addition, we compared the TID response of the MLC 3-D NAND with that of the 2-D NAND chip, which showed less page-to-page variation in bit error within a given memory block. We discuss the possible application of our findings for the radiation-tolerant smart memory controller design.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1667396
Report Number(s):
SAND--2020-8588J; 690041
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 67; ISSN 0018-9499
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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