  We find the relation between reliability and entropy production in a
realistic model of electronic memory (low-power MOS-based SRAM) where logical
values are encoded as metastable non-equilibrium states. We employ large
deviations techniques to obtain an analytical expression for the bistable
quasipotential describing the non-equilibrium steady state and use it to derive
an explicit expression bounding the error rate of the memory. Our results go
beyond the dominant contribution given by classical instanton theory and
provide accurate estimates of the error rate as confirmed by comparison with
stochastic simulations. The methods developed can be adapted to study the
reliability of broad classes of nonlinear devices subjected to thermal noise.
