Direct measurement of an energy-dependent single-event-upset cross-section with time-of-flight method at CSNS

Abstract

To predict the soft error rate for applications, it is essential to study the energy dependence of the single-event-upset (SEU) cross-section. In this work, we present a direct measurement of the SEU cross-section induced by the Back-n white neutron source at the China Spallation Neutron Source. The measured cross section is consistent with the soft error data from the manufacturer and the result suggests that the threshold energy of the SEU is about 0.5 MeV, which confirms the statement in Iwashita’s report that the threshold energy for neutron soft error is much below that of the (n, alpha) cross-section of silicon. In addition, an index of the effective neutron energy is suggested in order to characterize the similarity between a spallation neutron beam and the standard atmospheric neutron environment.