Destructive events in NAND Flash memories irradiated with heavy ions

Besides being widely used in virtually all terrestrial applications requiring non-volatile storage, Flash memories are arousing increasing interest with regards to space applications. This work presents new original data on the occurrence of destructive events and supply current spikes in NAND Flash memories exposed to heavy ions. Interestingly enough, these phenomena occur irradiating the devices even in stand-by mode. We examined the dependence of these effects on Linear Energy Transfer (LET) and flux of impinging ions, we used different test protocols, and shielded different blocks of the memory. Our analysis shows that the permanent loss of functionality occurs only with high-LET ions and usually with high particle flux, originating from damage to the charge pumps, likely due to Single Event Gate Rupture. We also show that there is not necessarily a correlation between irreversible damage and supply current spikes, as previously believed, even though they both originate in the charge pump circuitry.