Irradiation Effects on Power and Timing Characteristics of Commercial 3-D NAND Flash Memories

This study investigates the effects of ionizing radiation on the performance of 3-D NAND chips. We observe increased peak current consumption during erase and program operations from the irradiated chip. Additionally, our measurement shows a significant rise in erase time after TID ~ 50 krad(Si), which gradually stabilized after a few months of room-temperature annealing. Conversely, no considerable change was noted in program time. The findings suggest ionizing radiation notably influences the threshold voltages of all MOSFET devices, affecting the operation of peripheral circuit components such as charge-pumps. This may lead to greater chip latency due to slower operations, such as erase operations. The increased peak current draw for various operations necessitates focusing on power, particularly critical for parts deployed in irradiation-prone environments like space, which depend on battery power.