NSUF 20-4173: Investigation of Total Dose Effects on Data Corruption Rates in High Density 3-D Non-volatile Memory
In this project we will evaluate the radiation tolerance of the 3-D NAND flash memory, which is the state-of-the-art, commercially available, highest density, non-volatile memory. The objective of this study is identification of the radiation induced bit error pattern and developing the corresponding countermeasures to enhance reliability of the stored data.
We will perform a pre-radiation electrical characterization of the test chips to derive baseline performance characteristics in a laboratory setting using our custom-designed flash memory chip interface set-up, which can measure intrinsic bit error in the chip. Next, we will perform gamma-irradiation testing on the COTS flash chips. We will collect bit error information from the chip for both low-dose and high-dose radiation exposures. Multiple identical devices will be used to provide reasonably robust statistics on device response. We will evaluate the data corruption thresholds and identify the different failure modes of the chips. In addition, we propose several new techniques to improve robustness of flash memory chips that can be entirely implemented in the flash memory controllers. We plan to introduce and experimentally evaluate the following novel radiation tolerant functionality in the memory controller that will ensure long-term integrity of the stored data in the harsh radiation-prone environment: a) Data refresh: This function will periodically perform error correction on the stored data and freshly write them in a new memory block. This will eliminate all the radiation induced errors periodically gathered in the data. b) Analog read: High density flash memory chips offer advanced functions that will allow the user to read a memory location multiple times with different parameter sets. This feature will minimize error in the data. c) Fault-repair: This feature will correct the radiation induced error bits by applying additional write operation on the faulty bits.
The above functionalities will advance the state-of-the-art by providing new functions in the memory controller design for the extreme environment. In addition, the proposed research will advance our knowledge of radiation reliability physics of 3-D NAND flash memory which has been recently introduced in the consumer market. Since 3-D NAND is a fundamentally new type of flash memory technology, the proposed research will expand our knowledge on radiation induced new failure modes and new reliability mechanism specific to this new class of non-volatile flash technology. We plan to complete our study in nine months’ time.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | In this project we will evaluate the radiation tolerance of the 3-D NAND flash memory, which is the state-of-the-art, commercially available, highest density, non-volatile memory. The objective of this study is identification of the radiation induced bit error pattern and developing the corresponding countermeasures to enhance reliability of the stored data. We will perform a pre-radiation electrical characterization of the test chips to derive baseline performance characteristics in a laboratory setting using our custom-designed flash memory chip interface set-up, which can measure intrinsic bit error in the chip. Next, we will perform gamma-irradiation testing on the COTS flash chips. We will collect bit error information from the chip for both low-dose and high-dose radiation exposures. Multiple identical devices will be used to provide reasonably robust statistics on device response. We will evaluate the data corruption thresholds and identify the different failure modes of the chips. In addition, we propose several new techniques to improve robustness of flash memory chips that can be entirely implemented in the flash memory controllers. We plan to introduce and experimentally evaluate the following novel radiation tolerant functionality in the memory controller that will ensure long-term integrity of the stored data in the harsh radiation-prone environment: a) Data refresh: This function will periodically perform error correction on the stored data and freshly write them in a new memory block. This will eliminate all the radiation induced errors periodically gathered in the data. b) Analog read: High density flash memory chips offer advanced functions that will allow the user to read a memory location multiple times with different parameter sets. This feature will minimize error in the data. c) Fault-repair: This feature will correct the radiation induced error bits by applying additional write operation on the faulty bits. The above functionalities will advance the state-of-the-art by providing new functions in the memory controller design for the extreme environment. In addition, the proposed research will advance our knowledge of radiation reliability physics of 3-D NAND flash memory which has been recently introduced in the consumer market. Since 3-D NAND is a fundamentally new type of flash memory technology, the proposed research will expand our knowledge on radiation induced new failure modes and new reliability mechanism specific to this new class of non-volatile flash technology. We plan to complete our study in nine months’ time. |
| Award Announced Date | 2020-07-14T14:12:59.44 |
| Awarded Institution | Idaho National Laboratory |
| Facility | Advanced Test Reactor |
| Facility Tech Lead | Alina Zackrone, Michael Starr |
| Irradiation Facility | Gamma Irradiation Facility |
| PI | Biswajit Ray |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | 4173 |