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Borophosphosilicate glass, commonly known asBPSG, is a type ofsilicate glass that includes additives of bothboron andphosphorus. Silicate glasses such asPSG and borophosphosilicate glass are commonly used insemiconductor device fabrication for intermetal layers, i.e., insulating layers deposited between succeedingly higher metal or conducting layers.
BPSG has been implicated in increasing a device's susceptibility tosoft errors since the boron-10 isotope is good at capturingthermal neutrons fromcosmic radiation.[1][2] It then undergoesfission producing agamma ray, analpha particle, and alithium ion. These products may then dump charge into nearby structures, causing data loss (bit flipping, orsingle event upset).
In critical designs, depleted boron consisting almost entirely of boron-11 is used to avoid this effect as aradiation hardening measure. Boron-11 is a by-product of thenuclear industry.