[109500] in Cypherpunks
Re: About Alpha radiation...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tim May)
Fri Mar 26 13:37:59 1999
In-Reply-To: <36FB37E8.D13AC702@email.sps.mot.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 10:11:32 -0800
To: "Marty Levy" <rwww60@email.sps.mot.com>, gw-terisa <gw@terisa.com>,
Jean-Francois Avon <jf_avon@citenet.net>,
Cypherpunks <cypherpunks@toad.com>
From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Reply-To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
At 11:31 PM -0800 3/25/99, Marty Levy wrote:
>Alpha particles are a major source of bit disturb errors in terrestrial-usage
>semiconductors. The primary source is the packaging used to encapsulate the
>chip. Low alpha mold compounds can reduce this in plastic encapsulated
>devices, but cannot eliminate it. The presence of alpha generators in ceramic
>packages is even more difficult to control. Trench-style DRAM cells are less
>susceptible to alpha upsets due to the protection afforded by the silicon
>substrate. Multiple levels of interconnect also improve the situation, but of
>course shrinking device geometries make it worse.
>
>There is a great deal of literature on this subject for anyone who really
>wants
>to know. I would start with IEDM, IRPS (International Reliability Physics
>Symposium) and various IEEE societies dealing with solid-state devices.
Can this be true? Who'd've thunk it?
--Tim May
Y2K: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, enjoy the ride.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments.
