Single Event Transients in Digital CMOS—A Review

Abstract

The creation of soft errors due to the propagation of single event transients (SETs) is a significant reliability challenge in modern CMOS logic. SET concerns continue to be exacerbated by Moore's Law technology scaling. This paper presents a review of digital single event transient research, including: a brief historical overview of the emergence of SET phenomena, a review of the present understanding of SET mechanisms, a review of the state-of-the-art in SET testing and modelling, a discussion of mitigation techniques, and a discussion of the impact of technology scaling trends on future SET significance.