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U.S. Department of Energy
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Neutron irradiation for prevention of latch-up in MOS integrated circuits

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6224922

Bulk silicon integrated circuits can exhibit latch-up effects arising from regenerative switching in the parasitic bipolar transistors inherent in the complex circuit configurations. This is especially true for bulk CMOS integrated circuits in which a vertical NPN and lateral PNP connected in an SCR fashion occur. An extensive amount of work has been done in characterizing and preventing the latch-up which occurs from either transient ionizing radiation or from exceeding the breakdown voltage of the circuits. The purposes of this work were (1) to characterize the long-term annealing of neutron irradiation induced changes in the parasitic bipolar gains of MOS/LSI integrated circuits, and (2) to establish a procedure for neutron irradiation of LSI integrated circuits which would guarantee that latch-up would not occur during the normal lifetime of the circuits.

Research Organization:
Sandia Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
EY-76-C-04-0789
OSTI ID:
6224922
Report Number(s):
SAND-79-0641C; CONF-790706-2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English