Evaluating the Impact of Resistive Defects on FinFET-Based SRAMs

Thiago Santos Copetti, Guilherme Cardoso Medeiros, Letícia Maria Bolzani Poehls, Tiago R. Balen

Abstract: The development of FinFET technology has made possible the continuous scaling-down of CMOS technological nodes. In parallel, the increasing need to store more information has resulted in the fact that Static Random Access Memories (SRAMs) occupy great part of Systems-on-Chip (SoCs). The manufacturing process variation has introduced several types of defects that directly affect the SRAM’s reliability, causing different faults. Thus, it remains unknown if the fault models used in CMOS memory circuits are sufficiently accurate to represent the faulty behavior of FinFET-based memories. In this context, a study of manufacturing’s functional implications regarding resistive defects in FinFET-based SRAMs is presented. In more detail, a complete analysis of static and dynamic fault behavior for FinFET-based SRAMs is described. The proposed analysis has been performed through SPICE simulations, adopting a compact Predictive Technology Model (PTM) of FinFET transistors, considering different technological nodes. Faults have been categorized as single or coupling, static or dynamic.