Monte Carlo simulation of particle-induced bit upsets

We investigate the issue of radiation-induced failures in electronic devices by developing a Monte Carlo tool called MC-Oracle. It is able to transport the particles in device, to calculate the energy deposited in the sensitive region of the device and to calculate the transient current induced by the primary particle and the secondary particles produced during nuclear reactions. We compare our simulation results with SRAM experiments irradiated with neutrons, protons and ions. The agreement is very good and shows that it is possible to predict the soft error rate (SER) for a given device in a given environment

Two−photon laser testing of single−event effects in complex devices: a case study

International audienc

Monte Carlo simulation of particle-induced bit upsets

We investigate the issue of radiation-induced failures in electronic devices by developing a Monte Carlo tool called MC-Oracle. It is able to transport the particles in device, to calculate the energy deposited in the sensitive region of the device and to calculate the transient current induced by the primary particle and the secondary particles produced during nuclear reactions. We compare our simulation results with SRAM experiments irradiated with neutrons, protons and ions. The agreement is very good and shows that it is possible to predict the soft error rate (SER) for a given device in a given environment

An Integrated Solid Detector For Onboard Detection Of Natural Radiations In Atmosphere

International audienceWe developed an integrated silicon detector to be embedded in a stratospheric balloon or a plane in order to investigate the radiative atmospheric environment. The key component of the detector is a commercial silicon diode from ORTEC in which incident protons from atmosphere interact. This leads to a charge collection on the electrodes due to the electric field in the diode (96 V). The active area of the diode is 4.5 cm² and its thickness is 150 µm. We developed a specific electronic system to measure the energy deposition. The power management is on a dedicated board that has three direct-current-to-direct-current convertors that create four voltages from a 12 V battery to supply the electronic devices. There are also 32 three-volt lithium button cells that provide 96 V for the reverse bias of the diode.The experiment board contains the plug for the silicon diode in parallel with a test input, a preamplifier/shaper, a comparator, a peak detector, a microcontroller, and some peripherals. The charges coming from the silicon diode are converted into a voltage signal by the preamplifier/shaper. This voltage is then used to trigger the microcontroller on an event with the comparator that allows an adjustment of the detection threshold. The amplitude of the same voltage signal is measured by the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) of the microcontroller with the help of a peak detector. The experiment also measures the temperature and stores the data. A Real Time Clock timestamps the events in order to calculate the event rate as a function of the particle fluxes. Our detector was calibrated with a Californium source, and it was fully characterized under neutron beams from 25 MeV up to 180 MeV. Differential detection cross sections for different neutron beam energies were shown to be in good agreement with simulations performed with the MC-Oracle code. We performed four stratospheric balloon flights (with ESA and CNES) and confirmed the correlation between the count rate and the altitude. Moreover, we observed that the radiative environment is not isotropic and demonstrated the potential of our tool for investigating the radiative atmospheric environment. These results are useful for estimating the particle flux that affects electronic devices and onboard aircraft systems

Monte Carlo simulation of particle-induced bit upsets

We investigate the issue of radiation-induced failures in electronic devices by developing a Monte Carlo tool called MC-Oracle. It is able to transport the particles in device, to calculate the energy deposited in the sensitive region of the device and to calculate the transient current induced by the primary particle and the secondary particles produced during nuclear reactions. We compare our simulation results with SRAM experiments irradiated with neutrons, protons and ions. The agreement is very good and shows that it is possible to predict the soft error rate (SER) for a given device in a given environment

Characteristics of the Transient Currents Induced by Atmospheric Neutrons on a 40nm Electrode of an NMOS Transistor

International audienceWe simulate atmospheric neutron-induced transient current on a 45-nm technology electrode. We propose an empirical law expressing the probability of obtaining a given transient with a given collected charge and a given pulse width

Robusta 1B: Return of Experience from the Energy Power System In-FlightTelemetry

International audienc

Robusta 1B: Return of Experience from the Energy Power System In-FlightTelemetry

International audienc

Robusta : un satellite pédagogique

Robusta est un satellite de norme cubesat entièrement conçu et réalisé par les étudiants issus de formations diverses de l'Université Montpellier 2 : IUT , école d'ingénieur, licence et master EEA. C'est un projet en partenariat avec le CNES et soutenu par d'autres grands industriels du secteur électronique. Le satellite a pour mission scientifique de mesurer la dégradation sous l'effet de rayonnements ionisants de composants électroniques basés sur des transistors bipolaires. Ces dégradations seront par la suite comparées à celles obtenues par des méthodes de test au sol. Ce projet est une expérience de nature industrielle qui reste de par sa durée, son coût et sa technicité à l'échelle des étudiants. Robusta, en tant que système, permet aux étudiants de niveau bac + 2 à bac + 8 de développer des prototypes techniques pointus et d'améliorer leur sens de la communication tout en découvrant le monde du spatial

A Silicon Diode-Based Detector for Investigations of Atmospheric Radiation

International audienceWe developed an integrated silicon detector to be embedded in a stratospheric balloon in order to investigate the radiative atmospheric environment. The detector was calibrated with a Californium source, and it was fully characterized under neutron beams which produced various secondary ionizing particles. Differential detection cross sections for different neutron beam energies were shown to be in good agreement with simulations performed with the MC-Oracle code. We performed four stratospheric balloon flights (with ESA and CNES) and confirmed the correlation between the count rate and the altitude. Moreover, we observed that the radiative environment is not isotropic and demonstrated the potential of our tool for investigating the radiative atmospheric environment. These results are useful for estimating the particle flux that affects electronic devices and onboard aircraft systems