The "Livio Scarsi" X-Ray Facility at University of Palermo for Device Testing

In this work, we report on the characteristics of the Livio Scarsi X-ray facility at University of Palermo. The facility is able to produce low energy X rays, within the energy range of 0.1-60 keV, with fluence rates ranging from 10⁵-10⁸ photons/mm² s. The laboratory is equipped with an innovative digital detection system, based on semiconductor detectors (Si and CdTe detectors), able to provide accurate and precise estimation of the fluence rate, the energy and the exposure of X rays, even at high counting rate conditions. Instrumentation for electrical characterization (DC-AC) of semiconductor devices, for both off-line and on-line (i.e. during the irradiation) measurements, is also available. Total ionizing dose (TID) tests on rad-hard power MOSFET transistors by using both X rays and ⁶⁰Co gamma rays are presented. The aim of this work is to open up to potential users for low energy X-ray applications.