Title :
Single-event upset effects in optocouplers
Author :
Johnston, A.H. ; Swift, G.M. ; Miyahira, T. ; Guertin, S. ; Edmonds, L.D.
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
fDate :
12/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Single-event upset is investigated for optocouplers using heavy ions. The threshold LET for optocouplers with internal high-gain amplifiers is very low, causing output transients to occur even when the optocouplers are irradiated with short-range alpha particles. Although previous work with high-energy protons showed that transients were caused by charge collected in the large-area photodetector, transients generated in the high-gain amplifier make a significant contribution to the total cross section when optocouplers are irradiated with heavy ions. The transient pulse width increases with LET, exceeding 400 ns for long-range particles above 7 MeV-cm2/mg. This is about an order of magnitude greater than the pulse width that occurs when they are irradiated with protons. The ion range must exceed 50 μm to characterize the cross section and pulse width in these devices
Keywords :
alpha-particle effects; electric charge; ion beam effects; opto-isolators; photodiodes; transients; LED; SEU effects; heavy ions; internal high-gain amplifiers; large-area photodetector; optocouplers; output transients; short-range alpha particles; single-event upset effects; threshold LET; transient pulse width; Circuit testing; Laboratories; Light emitting diodes; Optical amplifiers; Optical coupling; Propulsion; Protons; Pulse amplifiers; Silicon; Space vector pulse width modulation;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
