First observation of proton induced power MOSFET burnout in space: the CRUX experiment on APEX

Author

Adolphsen, John W. ; Barth, Janet L. ; Gee, George B.

Author_Institution

Unisys Inc., Greenbelt, MD, USA

Volume

43

Issue

6

fYear

1996

fDate

12/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2921

Lastpage

2926

Abstract

Ground testing has shown that power MOSFETs are susceptible to burnout when irradiated with heavy ions and protons. Satellite data from the Cosmic Ray Upset Experiment (CRUX) demonstrate that single event burnouts (SEBs) on 100-volt and 200-volt power MOSFETs can and do occur in space. Few SEBs occurred on the 100-volt devices, all at L¹>3. The 200-volt devices experienced many SEBs at L<3 when drain-to-source voltage (V_D-S) was greater than 85% of maximum rated voltage. CRUX flight lot devices were ground tested with protons. The SEB rates calculated with the cross-sections from the ground tests show close agreement with the measured rates

Keywords

cosmic ray interactions; power MOSFET; proton effects; space vehicle electronics; 100 V; 200 V; APEX; CRUX; cosmic ray upset experiment; cross-section; power MOSFET; proton irradiation; single event burnout; space environment; Electronic equipment testing; Energy exchange; Extraterrestrial measurements; Hazards; MOSFET circuits; Power MOSFET; Protons; Satellites; Space vehicles; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.556886

Filename

556886