Analysis of single-event upset of magnetic tunnel junction used in spintronic circuits caused by radiation-induced current

This paper describes the possibility of a switching upset of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) caused by a terrestrial radiation-induced single-event-upset (SEU) current in spintronic integrated circuits. The current waveforms were simulated by using a 3-D device simulator in a basic circuit including MTJs designed using 90-nm CMOS parameters and design rules. The waveforms have a 400-μA peak and a 200-ps elapsed time when neutron particles with a linear energy transfer value of 14MeV cm²/mg enter the silicon surface. The authors also found that the SEU current may cause soft errors with a probability of more than 10^-12 per event, which was obtained by approximate solution of the ordinary differential equation of switching probability when the intrinsic critical current (I_C0) became less than 30 μA.