Single-Event Effect Responses of Integrated Planar Inductors in 65-nm CMOS

Abstract

This article describes a previously unreported single-event radiation effect in spiral inductors manufactured in a commercial CMOS technology when subjected to ionizing radiation. Inductors play a major role as the component determining the frequency of $LC$ tank oscillators, which is why any radiation effect in these passive components can have a detrimental impact on the performance of clock generation circuits. Different experiments performed to localize and characterize the single-event effect (SEE) response in a radiation-hardened PLL circuit are discussed and presented together with a hypothesis for the underlying physical mechanism.