Search results for "single-event effect"
showing 10 items of 10 documents
Low-Power, Subthreshold Reference Circuits for the Space Environment : Evaluated with -rays, X-rays, Protons and Heavy Ions
2019
The radiation tolerance of subthreshold reference circuits for space microelectronics is presented. The assessment is supported by measured results of total ionization dose and single event transient radiation-induced effects under &gamma
Single-Event Effects in the Peripheral Circuitry of a Commercial Ferroelectric Random Access Memory
2018
International audience; This paper identifies the failure modes of a commercial 130-nm ferroelectric random access memory. The devices were irradiated with heavy-ion and pulsed focused X-ray beams. Various failure modes are observed, which generate characteristic error patterns, affecting isolated bits, words, groups of pages, and sometimes entire regions of the memory array. The underlying mechanisms are discussed.
Heavy-Ion Microbeam Studies of Single-Event Leakage Current Mechanism in SiC VD-MOSFETs
2020
Heavy-ion microbeams are employed for probing the radiation-sensitive regions in commercial silicon carbide (SiC) vertical double-diffused power (VD)-MOSFETs with micrometer accuracy. By scanning the beam spot over the die, a spatial periodicity was observed in the leakage current degradation, reflecting the striped structure of the power MOSFET investigated. Two different mechanisms were observed for degradation. At low drain bias (gate and source grounded), only the gate-oxide (at the JFET or neck region) is contributing in the ion-induced leakage current. For exposures at drain–source bias voltages higher than a specific threshold, additional higher drain leakage current is observed in t…
Enhanced Charge Collection in SiC Power MOSFETs Demonstrated by Pulse-Laser Two-Photon Absorption SEE Experiments
2019
A two-photon absorption technique is used to understand the mechanisms of single-event effects (SEEs) in silicon carbide power metal–oxide–field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and power junction barrier Schottky diodes. The MOSFETs and diodes have similar structures enabling the identification of effects associated specifically with the parasitic bipolar structure that is present in the MOSFETs, but not the diodes. The collected charge in the diodes varies only with laser depth, whereas it varies with depth and lateral position in the MOSFETs. Optical simulations demonstrate that the variations in collected charge observed are from the semiconductor device structure and not from metal/passiva…
The Pion Single-Event Effect Resonance and its Impact in an Accelerator Environment
2020
International audience; The pion resonance in the nuclear reaction cross section is seen to have a direct impact on the single-event effect (SEE) cross section of modern electronic devices. This was experimentally observed for single-event upsets and single-event latchup. Rectangular parallelepiped (RPP) models built to fit proton data confirm the existence of the pion SEE cross-section resonance. The impact on current radiation hardness assurance (RHA) soft error rate (SER) predictions is, however, minimal for the accelerator environment since this is dominated by high neutron fluxes. The resonance is not seen to have a major impact on the high-energy hadron equivalence approximation estab…
Radiation Hardness Assurance Through System-Level Testing: Risk Acceptance, Facility Requirements, Test Methodology, and Data Exploitation
2021
International audience; Functional verification schemes at a level different from component-level testing are emerging as a cost-effective tool for those space systems for which the risk associated with a lower level of assurance can be accepted. Despite the promising potential, system-level radiation testing can be applied to the functional verification of systems under restricted intrinsic boundaries. Most of them are related to the use of hadrons as opposed to heavy ions. Hadrons are preferred for the irradiation of any bulky system, in general, because of their deeper penetration capabilities. General guidelines about the test preparation and procedure for a high-level radiation test ar…
Single-Event Effects in the Peripheral Circuitry of a Commercial Ferroelectric Random-Access Memory
2018
This paper identifies the failure modes of a commercial 130-nm ferroelectric random access memory. The devices were irradiated with heavy-ion and pulsed focused X-ray beams. Various failure modes are observed, which generate characteristic error patterns, affecting isolated bits, words, groups of pages, and sometimes entire regions of the memory array. The underlying mechanisms are discussed. peerReviewed
Single-event effects of space and atmospheric radiation on memory components
2017
Electronic memories are ubiquitous components in electronic systems: they are used to store data, and can be found in all manner of industrial, automotive, aerospace, telecommunication and entertainment systems. Memory technology has seen a constant evolution since the first practical dynamic Random- Access Memories (dynamic RAMs) were created in the late 60's. The demand for ever-increasing performance and capacity and decrease in power consumption was met thanks to a steady miniaturization of the component features: modern memory devices include elements barely a few tens of atomic layers thick and a few hundred of atomic layers wide. The side effect of this constant miniaturization was a…
Single Event Transients and Pulse Quenching Effects in Bandgap Reference Topologies for Space Applications
2016
An architectural performance comparison of bandgap voltage reference variants, designed in a $0.18~\mu \text {m}$ CMOS process, is performed with respect to single event transients. These are commonly induced in microelectronics in the space radiation environment. Heavy ion tests (Silicon, Krypton, Xenon) are used to explore the analog single-event transients and have revealed pulse quenching mechanisms in analogue circuits. The different topologies are compared, in terms of cross-section, pulse duration and pulse amplitude. The measured results, and the explanations behind the findings, reveal important guidelines for designing analog integrated circuits, which are intended for space appli…
Unifying Concepts for Ion-Induced Leakage Current Degradation in Silicon Carbide Schottky Power Diodes
2020
The onset of ion-induced reverse leakage current in SiC Schottky diodes is shown to depend on material properties, ion LET, and bias during irradiation, but not the voltage rating of the parts. This is demonstrated experimentally for devices from multiple manufacturers with voltage ratings from 600 V to 1700 V. Using a device with a higher breakdown voltage than required in the application does not provide increased robustness related to leakage current degradation, compared to using a device with a lower voltage rating. peerReviewed