Experimental studies of single-event gate rupture and burnout in vertical power MOSFETs

Single event burnout in DC-DC converters for the LHC experiments

“…Since then, extensive studies on SEB and SEGR have been conducted. A review paper by Titus and Wheatley presents a comprehensive bibliography on these topics [8]. At the beginning of these studies, tests, based on a non-destructive technique, were performed using heavy ions to measure the SEB cross section.…”

“…Standard MOSFET devices are more susceptible to SEB effects than SEGR. The later is a destructive effect that can be described as the result of the energy released through the insulator by a heavy ion strike when the gate is biased by a voltage higher than a critical value [8]. However, this type of effect has been observed during proton radiation [13].…”

Single Event Effects and Their Mitigation for the Collider Detector at Fermilab

“…The failures were tracked down to a power MOSFET in a power factor corrector circuit in the supply which underwent a single event burn-out (SEB) [5]. Figure 2 shows a photograph of a failed power MOSFET in the circuit.…”

Radiation effects in the space telecommunications environment

“…Moreover, the ever-increasing speed of advanced microelectronics places great challenges on equipment during SEU testing [76], [77]. Destructive SEE testing [28], [30] carries its own sets of challenges, to ensure that devices subject to singleevent latchup, gate rupture, snapback, or burnout are not built into space telecommunications systems.…”

“…The passage of a sufficiently energetic particle through a critical device region can even lead to permanent failure of an IC due to single-particleinduced latchup [28], [29], burnout, or dielectric rupture [30], [31]. This is especially a problem for high-voltage andlor high-current electronics associated with spaceborne power supplies.…”