Physical 3D Single Event Upset Simulation of a SRAM Cell
with VICTORY DEVICE and SmartSpice

1. Introduction

VICTORY DEVICE simulation framework includes tools for 1D, 2D and 3D simulation of modern semiconductor technologies. VICTORY DEVICE implements a full tetrahedral meshing engine for fast and accurate simulation of complex 3D geometries. Built in and user defined mesh refinement criteria can be used for customization of the mesh during a simulation. This is the case for Single Event Upset (SEU) simulation. The simulation of SEU phenomena in 3D structures is highly complicated due to the presence of large gradients in physical quantities near the SEU track. In order to perform accurate and stable simulations of SEU strikes in 3D structures, it is essential to have fairly dense mesh near the center of the SEU track while maintaining a coarser mesh far from the track for efficiency. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how a SRAM cell subject to SEU can be accurately simulated.