wolit@alice.UUCP (Jan Wolitzky) (12/18/84)
A recent article in a usually reputable journal identified the source of the alpha particles responsible for "soft" errors in semiconductor memories as being the PLASTIC package encasing these chips. I always thought that this problem was limited to (or at least much more serious in) CERAMIC-packaged memories, owing to the presence of radioactive impurities in the earthen materials used to make the ceramic, and that the purer hydrocarbons that make up plastic packages were not much of an alpha source (in fact, they act as an alpha shield). Could some semiconductor packaging expert shed some light on this? Can anyone cite some original source material on this subject? -- Jan Wolitzky, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ; (201) 582-2998