Title :
Cancer-radiotherapy equipment as a cause of soft errors in electronic equipment
Author :
Wilkinson, Jeffrey D. ; Bounds, Chad ; Brown, Timothy ; Gerbi, Bruce J. ; Peltier, Joel
Author_Institution :
Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA
Abstract :
The undesirable production of secondary neutrons by cancer-radiotherapy linear accelerators (linac) has been demonstrated to cause soft errors in nearby electronics through the 10B(n,a)7Li reaction. 10B is a component in the BPSG used as a dielectric material in some integrated-circuit (IC) fabrication processes.
Keywords :
dielectric materials; integrated circuits; linear accelerators; radiation effects; radiation therapy; cancer radiotherapy equipment; dielectric material; electronic equipment; integrated circuit fabrication; linear accelerators; neutron radiation effects; soft errors; Boron; Cancer; Contamination; Dielectrics; Electronic equipment; Linear particle accelerator; Neoplasms; Neutrons; Particle production; Tungsten; BPSG; Biomedical applications of radiation; boron; integrated circuit radiation effects; neutron radiation effects; radiotherapy; single event upset; soft errors;
Journal_Title :
Device and Materials Reliability, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TDMR.2005.858342
