Proton- and Neutron-Induced Single-Event Upsets in FPGAs for the PANDA Experiment

Preston, M.; Calén, H.; Johansson, T.; Kavatsyuk, M.; Makónyi, K.; Marciniewski, P.; Schakel, P.; Tegnér, P. E.

doi:10.1109/tns.2020.2987173

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Many devices have a TID tolerance over a few kGy [11], and they are hardened at transistor level against radiation-induced single-event latch-ups. However, due to the architecture of FPGAs, upsets in the CRAM may alter the programmed elements, including routing, thus disrupting the operation of the logic implemented in the fabric [12]. We designed a novel HEH sensor fully embedded in a SRAM-based FPGA solving the abovementioned limitations of the state of the art.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton irradiation of FPGA-embedded hadron fluence sensors

Giordano,

Tortone,

Vincenzi

et al. 2024

J. Inst.

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Hadron fluence monitors based on static random access memories (SRAMs) are in use at particle accelerators for the protection of electronics and at proton-therapy facilities for measuring secondary neutrons. One shortcoming of current solutions is that they necessitate SRAMs to detect radiation-induced single event upsets and require additional components to transfer the counts from the radiation area. This approach limits the practicality of the sensors due to their power requirements, increased board complexity, larger physical footprint and reduced total ionizing dose tolerance. In this work, we present proton irradiation test results of a novel proton and neutron fluence sensor we designed. The sensor is fully embedded in a SRAM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) solving the abovementioned limitations of the state of the art. The FPGA configuration SRAM is used as a sensitive element, while the Joint Test Action Group interface is leveraged as a read out circuitry. We irradiated six sensor units by means of a variable-energy proton beam at the Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications (TIFPA, Trento, Italy). We discuss our results in terms of proton to upset cross section as a function of the proton energy in the range from 70 to 228 MeV, also parameterized with respect to the power supply voltage. We evaluate the variability of the cross section in the set of irradiated samples. Moreover, we show how we used the device to image the proton beam and measure beam profiles for aligning the configuration RAM and beam centers. We also suggest alternate reading modes to measure the fluence on the device by measuring the drawn current, rather than counting upsets.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton irradiation of FPGA-embedded hadron fluence sensors

Giordano,

Tortone,

Vincenzi

et al. 2024

J. Inst.

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“…With semiconductor technology scaling, single-event effects (SEEs) induced by terrestrial neutrons have become a serious reliability issue for both avionics and commercial integrated circuits at ground level [1,2]. Neutrons are unable to deposit charge directly, but neutrons can interact with nucleus in the device and create secondary ions, which can deposit charge in the device.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation study and HSPICE modeling of single-event transients induced by secondary ions not incident to the drain in nanoscale CMOS technology

Jin

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Terrestrial single-event transients (SETs) are mainly induced by secondary ions of neutron-induced nuclear reactions, which do not cross the sensitive drain in most cases. Technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations show that in those cases, both diffusion-collection current and burst-plateau-type current waveform could occur in nanoscale complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The necessity of including recombination effect in diffusion-collection model is identified, and an equivalent circuit model (ECM) is established to describe SETs induced by secondary ions with short distance to the drain. Both models are verified by TCAD simulations.

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“…Many devices have a TID tolerance over a few kGy [10] and they are hardened at transistor level against radiation-induced single-event latch-ups. However, upsets in the CRAM [11] may alter the programmed elements, including routing, thus disrupting the operation of the logic implemented in the fabric [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutron-Irradiation Testing of FPGA-Embedded Hadron Fluence Sensors

Giordano

Tortone

Vincenzi

et al. 2023

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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Hadron fluence monitors based on static random access memories (SRAMs) are being used at CERN and have been proposed for proton therapy facilities. Some of the limitations of the state of the art are related to the usage of separate components for sensing upsets and for reading them out, as these increase the power consumption, the board complexity and its size. Moreover, in some cases, due to radiation-tolerance requirements, the readout logic is fixed and it cannot be updated once the system has been implemented. In this work, we show how to overcome the mentioned limitations by using an SRAMbased field programmable gate array (FPGA) for implementing both the sensitive element (the configuration SRAM) and the readout logic (the firmware in the fabric). In fact, we describe the implementation of a compact, reprogrammable, low-power, actively self-reading hadron fluence sensor realized by means of a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA. Moreover, we present the customized radiation-hardening-by-design techniques adopted for the readout logic. We irradiated two sensor prototypes at the Jožef Stefan Institute's TRIGA Mark II research reactor, under different neutron spectra and flux conditions. We discuss our results, which include the measurements of the radiation tolerance, the single event upset cross section of the configuration SRAM, the sensitivity to thermal neutrons, and the failure cross section of the readout logic.

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Proton- and Neutron-Induced Single-Event Upsets in FPGAs for the PANDA Experiment

Cited by 6 publications

References 68 publications

Proton irradiation of FPGA-embedded hadron fluence sensors

Proton irradiation of FPGA-embedded hadron fluence sensors

Simulation study and HSPICE modeling of single-event transients induced by secondary ions not incident to the drain in nanoscale CMOS technology

Neutron-Irradiation Testing of FPGA-Embedded Hadron Fluence Sensors

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