Charge-Collection and Single-Event Upset Measurements at the ISIS Neutron Source

Author

Platt, Simon ; Torok, Zoltan ; Frost, Chris D. ; Ansell, Stuart

Author_Institution

Sch. of Comput., Univ. of Central Lancashire, Preston

Volume

55

Issue

4

fYear

2008

Firstpage

2126

Lastpage

2132

Abstract

Charge-collection measurements at the VESUVIO instrument at ISIS are described. Neutron SEU cross sections in SRAM-based FPGAs are measured. Results are compared to equivalent data from Los Alamos Neutron Science Center ICE House. The rate of single-event effects due to fast neutrons at VESUVIO is approximately 15% of that at LANSCE. In addition there is a strong thermal and epithermal component, sufficient to cause many events in devices containing small amounts of ¹⁰B. The effects of low-energy neutrons on a commercial CCD contaminated with traces of ¹⁰B are described. Cadmium shielding is found to be incompletely effective in separating the effects of fast and slow neutrons, and the implications for testing protocols and instrument design are discussed.

Keywords

SRAM chips; charge measurement; charge-coupled devices; field programmable gate arrays; logic design; ISIS neutron source; Los Alamos Neutron Science Center ICE House; SRAM-based FPGA; charge-collection measurements; commercial CCD; epithermal component; instrument design; single-event upset measurements; testing protocols; thermal component; Cadmium; Charge coupled devices; Current measurement; Field programmable gate arrays; Ice; Instruments; Intersymbol interference; Neutrons; Pollution measurement; Single event upset; Charge-coupled devices; dosimetry; field programmable gate arrays; neutron beams; neutron radiation effects; semiconductor device radiation effects;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2008.918518

Filename

4636961