Total-Ionization-Dose Radiation Effects and Hardening Techniques of a Mixed-Signal Spike Neural Network in 180 nm SOI-Pavlov Process

A mixed-signal spiking neural network (SNN) chip is presented, and its radiation effect-Total Ionizing Dose (TID) was studied. The chip was fabricated in a 180 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) integration process with an area of 3.75 mm(2); the total doses were set at 300 krad (Si), 500 krad (Si), and 1 Mrad (Si). The TID radiation experimental results showed that the average spike frequency and spike amplitude of the output signal of the SNN circuit decreased after the irradiation because of the leakage current caused by the charge trapped in the buried oxide. Sensitive nodes were identified through the analysis of the critical path of the circuit, and guidance toward a radiation-hardening neuron circuit was proposed. The proposed circuit maintains good robustness with firing frequency variation.

Automated summary

This paper presents a mixed-signal spiking neural network (SNN) chip and investigates its radiation effect-Total Ionizing Dose (TID). The experimental results show that the average spike frequency and amplitude of the output signal decrease after irradiation due to the leakage current caused by charge trapped in the buried oxide. Sensitive nodes are identified by analyzing the critical path of the circuit, and a radiation-hardening neuron circuit design guidance is proposed. The proposed circuit exhibits good robustness with firing frequency variation.