Role of heavy-ion nuclear reactions in determining on-orbit single event error rates

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 52; no. 6; pp. 2182 - 2188
• Main Authors: Howe, C.L., Weller, R.A., Reed, R.A., Mendenhall, M.H., Schrimpf, R.D., Warren, K.M., Ball, D.R., Massengill, L.W., LaBel, K.A., Howard, J.W., Haddad, N.F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.12.2005; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aerospace electronics; Charge deposition; CMOS; CMOS technology; Devices; Electronic equipment testing; Energy (nuclear); Error analysis; Errors; Geant4; heavy ion; Ionization; Microelectronics; MRED; Nuclear reactions; Radiation effects; Semiconductor device modeling; SEU error rate; Single event upset; Single event upsets; single-event upset (SEU); Space environment; Space technology; Spacecraft
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2005.860683

Simulations show that neglecting ion-ion interaction processes (both particles having Z>1) results in an underestimation of the total on-orbit single event upset error rate by more than two orders of magnitude for certain technologies. The inclusion of ion-ion nuclear reactions leads to dramatically different SEU error rates for CMOS devices containing high Z materials compared with direct ionization by the primary ion alone. Device geometry and material composition have a dramatic effect on charge deposition in small sensitive volumes for the spectrum of ion energies found in space, compared with the limited range of energies typical of ground tests.