Comparison of Single Event Transients Generated by Short Pulsed X-Rays, Lasers and Heavy Ions

Abstract

We report an experimental study of the transients generated by pulsed x-rays, heavy ions, and different laser wavelengths in a Si p-i-n photodiode. We compare the charge collected by all of the excitation methods to determine the equivalent LET for pulsed x-rays relative to heavy ions. Our comparisons show that pulsed x-rays from synchrotron sources can generate a large range of equivalent LET and generate transients similar to those excited by laser pulses and heavy ion strikes. We also look at how the pulse width of the transients changes for the different excitation methods. We show that the charge collected with pulsed x-rays is greater than expected as the x-ray photon energy increases. Combined with their capability of focusing to small spot sizes and of penetrating metallization, pulsed x-rays are a promising new tool for high resolution screening of SEE susceptibility.

Single-Event Effects in the Peripheral Circuitry of a Commercial Ferroelectric Random Access Memory

“…Throughout this campaign, the total pulse energy at the DUT surface was 87 pJ. In [9], a method has been developed to correlate the transients resulting from the collection of charge carriers generated by pulsed X-rays (using the same APS beam line) and heavy ions. Using the equivalence model described in [9], we obtain:…”

“…In the following discussion, we assume an overlayer profile of 1.5 µm of Al, 1.5 µm of Cu and 3 µm of SiO2; this results in about 11% pulse energy absorption between the DUT surface and the active silicon region [8]. The formula from [9] then predicts a 37 MeV.cm 2 .mg -1 equivalent LET at the sensitive volume depth. The attenuation length in silicon is so large (69.6 µm) compared to the typical dimensions of logic gates and register cells (a few square micrometers) that for our purposes, we can consider the beam unattenuated once it reaches the silicon, generating charge carriers in a long vertical column.…”

Simulation and analysis of inverse-mode operation of single event transient mechanisms on NPN-SiGe HBT

“…Significant works have been published on the characterizations of transient currents, charge collection, and hardening approaches to increase single-event immunity, both at the device and circuit levels, which mitigate the sensitivity of SiGe HBTs to single-event effects [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Pellish et al [27] investigated the effect of SiGe HBT transients using a heavy-ion microbeam and a broad beam from Sandia National Laboratories, USA.…”