Radiation Effects on In-Memory Computing Architectures

Recently, the implementation of neuromorphic accelerator hardware has gradually changed from traditional Von Neumann architectures to non-Von Neumann architectures due to the “memory wall” and “power wall”. Near-memory computing (NMC) and In- memory computing (IMC) are two common types of non-Von Neumann approaches. NMC can help reduce data movements, yet it cannot fully address the challenge of improving computational efficiency as the neural network size grows. IMC has been proposed as a superior alternative. This architecture performs computation inside the memory array using stackable synaptic devices to improve the latency and the energy efficiency of neural network accelerators. Both volatile and non-volatile computational memory devices can achieve IMC. Fully complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) in-memory computing cells can be realized by adding additional transistors in standard static random access memory (SRAM) bit-cell. The SRAM-based designs investigated in this dissertation perform bit-wise logical operation to obtain XNOR-and-accumulate computation (XAC) for deep neural networks (DNNs). Hybrid in-memory computing architectures combine CMOS with embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM). Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is one class of eNVM ideally suited for hybrid IMC. In a neural network, RRAM with programmable multi-level resistance/conductance states can naturally emulate weight transitions in the synaptic elements of neural networks. In this dissertation, the operation and effects of ionizing radiation effects on both fully CMOS and hybrid IMCs are investigated. The fully CMOS architectures preform SRAM-based XAC computations. The hybrid architectures use multi-state RRAM synapse with CMOS neurons to perform multiply-and-accumulate computation (MAC). In the SRAM XAC array, an 8×8 XNOR IMC array is modeled with flipped-well enhanced-gate super low threshold voltage (EGSLVT) metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) from the GlobalFoundries 22nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) process. The impact of total ionizing dose (TID) on the XAC synaptic array is analyzed by using radiation-aware models to mimic TID-induced voltage shifts in MOSFETs. In multi- state RRAM MAC array, 4-state conductance has been programmed in hafnium-oxide (HfOx) RRAM 1-transistor-1-resistor (1T1R) array. The impact of total ionizing dose on the multi-state behavior of HfOx RRAM is evaluated by irradiating a 64kb 1T1R array with 90nm CMOS peripheral circuitry under Co-60 γ-ray irradiation.