Single Event Effect of a 16-Gbps Transmitter in Bulk Planar and Bulk FinFET CMOS Technologies

Single event effect(SEE) response of a custom transmitter (TX) in nanometer technology is investigated. Following the optimization of CMOS size, two 16Gbps TXs are fabricated in commercial bulk planar and bulk FinFET CMOS technologies. A comparison of the radiation responses between bulk planar and bulk FinFET devices in the TX was conducted through the pulsed laser and heavy ion experiments. The results of the heavy ion experiments showed that three types of single event transients(SETs) appeared in planar technology TX, while in FinFET TX witnessed only one type of SET. The SET cross sections in planar TX were 43 and 49 times as much as FinFET TX with linear energy transfer (LET) of 13.1 and 21.8 MeV·cm2/mg. The pulsed laser experiments demonstrated that both planar and FinFET technologies TX can survive the laser irradiation with laser energy of 100pJ and 160pJ, respectively. These experimental results indicate that FinFET CMOS exhibits a naturally superior SEE tolerance.