Abstract   A pulsed nanosecond IR laser diode system to automatically test the Single Event Effects in laboratory is described. The results of Single Event Latchup (SEL) test on two VLSI chips (VA_HDR64, 0.8 and    1.2    μm    technology) are discussed and compared to those obtained with high-energy heavy ions at GSI (Darmstadt)

A. Papi

Behcet Alpat

D. Caraffini

G. Esposito

G. Pontetti

L. Dimasso

L. Farnesini

M. Bizzarri

Maria Ionica

Mauro Menichelli

Roberto Battiston

S. Blasko

V. Postolache

English

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Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 485 (2002) 183–187A pulsed nanosecond IR laser diode system to automaticallytest the Single Event Effects in the laboratoryB. Alpata,*, R. Battistona, M. Bizzarria, S. Blaskoa, D. Caraffinia, L. Dimassoa,G. Espositoa, L. Farnesinia, M. Ionicaa,1, M. Menichellia, A. Papia,G. Pontettib, V. Postolachea,2a INFN Sezione di Perugia, Dipartimento di Fisica, dell’Universit "a di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli 1, 06100 Perugia, ItalybFacolta’ d’Ingegneria, Universit "a degli Studi di Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 88, 00146 Roma, ItalyAbstractA pulsed nanosecond IR laser diode system to automatically test the Single Event Effects in laboratory is described.The results of Single Event Latchup (SEL) test on two VLSI chips (VA HDR64, 0.8 and 1:2 mm technology) arediscussed and compared to those obtained with high-energy heavy ions at GSI (Darmstadt). r 2002 Elsevier ScienceB.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Laser; Single event effect; SEE; Latch-up1. IntroductionSingle Event Effect (SEE) is an effect induced bya single particle or ion that can cause a permanenthigh current path (Single Event Latchup, SEL), abit flip (Single Event Upset, SEU) or a stuck bit(Single Hard Error) [1]. As circuit dimensions arescaled down, the individual circuit nodes requiresless charge to be upset, hence, many integratedcircuits operating in avionics and in space havebeen found to become more susceptible to SEEinduced by energetic particles such as protons orcharged heavy ions [2]. The increasing trendtowards the use of Commercially available OffThe Shelf (COTS) [3] products instead of radiationhardened parts in space requires additional SEEtesting on ground to ensure that the commercialparts will meet the mission requirements.Our goal is to produce a tool for the qualitativeevaluation of Device Under Test (DUT) responseto SEL/SEU in laboratory. This tool will allow usto detect unsuitable devices, thus reducing thenumber of components to be tested with heavy ionbeams. Our results have shown that the thoroughunderstanding and control of crucial system para-meters such as surface reflections, pulse size andduration, and the laser beam intensity could givequantitative informations on SEL/SEU thresholdswhich can be compared with results of ions beams.In the following we describe an infrared-pulsedlaser diode system to test SEE in the laboratory,*Corresponding author.E-mail address: behcet.alpat@pg.infn.it (B. Alpat).1Permanent address: National Institute for Research andDevelopment in Microtechnologies 32B, Erou Iancu NicolaeStreet, R-72996 Bucharest, Romania.2Permanent address: Microelectronica SA, Bucharest, Ro-mania.0168-9002/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 9 0 0 2 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 5 5 2 - 1emphasizing both the advantages and limitationsof the pulsed laser technique. The results of SELtest on two VLSI chips (VA HDR64 [4], 0.8 and1:2 mm technology), which will be used in front-end electronics of the Antimatter Magnetic Spec-trometer (AMS) experiment are compared tothose obtained with high-energy (200–800 MeV/nucleon) xenon, gold and uranium ions at GSI(Darmstadt).2. IR-pulsed laser systemThis system is capable of delivering largenumber of pulses with adjustable intensities acrossa DUT over its entire surface and perform onlinecalibration in a fully automatic manner. Thedesign of the system has been done by consideringthe following parameters:* modularity, the capability of using its parts alsofor the heavy ion beam tests (i.e. SELDP, seebelow);* the capability of fast screening of components;and* cost effectiveness.Since the physics of ion-semiconductor and photon-semiconductor interactions are different, thecharge distributions generated by laser light andby heavy ions may lead to different amount ofcharge collected and subsequently different resultsfor SEE measurements. In order to have a radialcharge distribution as similar as possible to the oneproduced by a heavy ion particle, good beamfocusing and relatively long penetration depths arerequired. In order to minimize the two photonabsorption (TPA) phenomenon effect (i.e. non-linear absorption at high laser intensities) twoparameters to be controlled are the laser wave-length and the laser pulse width [5]. Our choice forwavelength of 913 nm is a good compromise toreduce by a factor 100 the TPA (with respect towavelengths near band gap, i.e. l ¼ 1:13 mm forsilicon) and provide a sufficiently long penetrationdepth (E27 mm).The numerical simulation results [6] have shownthat the SEL energy threshold values dependenceon pulse width varies by up to 10% for pulsewidths between 10 ps and 1 ns and then increasesmoothly. At our pulse width of 15 ns the over-estimation of the laser energy with respect to the10 ps pulse width is a factor of 1:8710%: After theapplication of this correction factor to the SELenergy threshold calculation, the results haveshown a good agreement with those obtained withheavy ions. This opens the possibility of using alaser diode giving the simplicity in design and costeffectiveness of such a system.The knowledge of surface reflections from theDUT is another important parameter to control,since it determines the effective amount of lightthat enters into the DUT. We measured the DUT’ssurface reflections by calculating the ratio betweenthe light collected by a photodiode placed at agiven angle, first by a totally reflecting surface andthen by the DUT; we found that the ratio ofincident light penetrates the DUT is 0.70 with arelative error of 5%. For our wavelength, thequantum efficiency of silicon (0:9575%) andthermal losses for silicon (only 0:8373% of energysurvives) are well known quantities [7].2.1. Setup descriptionThe setup consists of an externally triggeredlaser module mounted on a vertical axis includinga polarizer, a beam splitter and a microscopeobjective. A fraction of the beam is deviated by thebeam splitter and sent along a secondary axis to aphotodiode which is used to monitor and calibratethe beam intensity on the DUT. An X–Ymotorized translator stage is located under theprimary axis on which the DUT is mounted. Thetranslator is operated by high-precision motorscontrolled via a PC card. A similar motor is usedto rotate the polarizer in order to adjust the energyof the laser pulses.The power is supplied to the DUT by a custommodule called Single Event Latchup Detector andProtector (SELDP) [8]. This module has two otherimportant features that are the detection and thecounting of SEL (SEUs are detected via software) andthe protection of the DUT from possible damage.An interface card placed in SELDP provides theconnection with a DAQ card located in a PC.Through this interface it is possible to send, receiveB. Alpat et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 485 (2002) 183–187184and sample both digital and analog signals thusallowing the full control of SELDP, laser moduleand photodiode via PC (See Fig. 1). This card hasalso NIM output pulses to interface with NIM/CAMAC logic.The DUT protection is achieved by a circuitwhich compares the input currents with previouslyset threshold values (about two times the typicalinput current of DUT). As the currents go overthreshold, a SEL counter is incremented and thepower supply is switched off within 100 ms for aprogrammable time ranging from 1 ms to 99 s:The SELDP module is completely programmableand easy to transport for use in different environ-ments, e.g. during ion beam tests.The details on the components used for thesetup are listed in Table 1.3. Test procedure and resultsWe performed SEL tests on two VA HDR64, 64channel low-noise/low-power, high dynamic range,charge sensitive preamplifier-shaper VLSI circuits,designed as a part of the front-end electronics ofthe AMS Silicon Tracker and produced with 0.8and 1:2 mm technology. To predict the SEE rates ofa given electronics device during a mission, we needthe knowledge of the device dimensions, theamount of the material surrounding it, the orbitparameters (altitude, latitude, period, duration,etc.) and the SEL Cross-Section (CS) as a functionof the Linear Energy Transfer (LET). To evaluatethe SEL CS vs. LET we define a scanning matrixon DUT surface (10 10 grid cells). At the centerof each cell, we then deliver a fixed number of laserpulses (100 pulse) of known intensity (energy) andrecord the number of SEL occurrences. The cross-section is calculated using:s ¼NbSelIntFluxSampledAreacosðyÞð1Þwhere IntFlux is the total number of laser pulsesdelivered during the scan, NbSEL is the totalnumber of SEL occurred in the scan, y is theincidence angle (in our case y ¼ 0). The relativeuncertainty on CS is about 20% (mostly deter-mined by the grid matrix size and the sample ofpulses in each cell). The corresponding LET valueis then calculated asLET ¼ErSidSið2Þwhere rSi is the density of silicon, dSi is thepenetration depth of laser radiation in the siliconbulk, for which the energy release in silicon isFig. 1. Block diagram of the setup.Table 1Setup main components specificationsLaser diode l ¼ 913 nm; 15 ns wdt; 20 W @peak,10 kHz prf :Polarizer Ext. rat. 105Beamsplitter Ratio ¼ 0:5Objective 100; 12 mm WDX–Y tran. stage 5 cm travel, 0:5 mm rpt.Photodiode 0:5 A=W sens., 50 O loadB. Alpat et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 485 (2002) 183–187 185linear at 95% C.L.; E is the energy released in thesilicon bulk.After implementing the normalizations dis-cussed in Section 2, the effective energy releaseover incident energy at DUT surface ratio iscalculated to be 33%, indicating that one third ofthe incident laser energy penetrates the DUT. Themaximum relative error on this ratio is estimatedto be about 23% by summing up the uncorrelatederrors of each correction factor (surface reflec-tions, Si quantum efficiency, Si thermal losses,pulse width), while the rms error is 12%.In Fig. 2 are shown the results of our laser test incomparison with those obtained at GSI using129Xe; 197Au and 238U ion beams (energy range200–800 MeV=nucleon) for the 1.2 and 0:8 mmtechnology. We observe similar LET thresholdsvalues for both ion and laser tests. The LETthreshold is defined as the minimum LET value tocause an effect [9], corresponding to the first nonzero value of CS. The calculations details and theresults of tests carried out under ion beam at GSI(Darmstad) are discussed elsewhere [10].4. Discussions and conclusionsThe advantages of the laser technique are:* spatial information because of the small beamspot size and the precision on determination ofthe beam spot position;* the capability of synchronization with thecircuit clock so that SEE measurements can beperformed as a function of timing;* non-destructive; and* cost and ease of operation.The limitations of this technique are:* inability of laser light to penetrate metal andplastic packages. The latter problem can beFig. 2. Cross-section vs. LET for the two VA HDR both with laser (circles and thick lines) and GSI ion beam (triangles and thin lines).B. Alpat et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 485 (2002) 183–187186solved through proper delidding of plastic partsprior to test; and* no direct measurement of SEE threshold sinceions and light do not interact in the same way.Two VLSI chips were tested using heavy ionbeams and nanosecond-pulsed diode laser. Theresults are in good agreement validating thenanosecond laser technique and the approachused to calculate the cross-sections and corre-sponding LET values. The systematic errors arewell identified and can be reduced by decreasingthe scanning grid cell dimensions and increasingthe number of pulses used for each grid cell. Thedevelopment of our system for SEU testing isunderway. The collected data will be stored in acomponent database for future use and compar-ison. This laser system is a powerful tool providingvaluable screening information about the radia-tion hardness of the components in a fast and costeffective way.AcknowledgementsIt is a pleasure to thank W. Burger forstimulating and fruitful discussions.References[1] ESA/SSC Basic Specification 25100, Single Event EffectsTest Method and Guidelines, Edited by ESA.[2] S. Buchner, et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 43 (2) (1996)678–686.[3] P.S. Winokur, et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 46 (6) (1999)1494–1503.[4] Online documentation, IDE AS, Integrated Detector &Electronic, Oslo NO, URL: http://193.216.193.195/down-loadASICdocuments/, files Va64 hdr9.pdf e Va64 hdr4.pdf.[5] J.S. Melinger, S. Buchner, et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 41(6) (1994) 2574–2584.[6] A.I. Chumakov, A.N. Egorov, et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl.Sci. 44 (6) (1997) 2034–2039.[7] S.M. Sze, Semiconductor Devices Physics and Technology,Wiley, New York, 1985.[8] A. Papi, et al., SEL Detector and Protection ProjectSpecification, INFN Perugia internal document.[9] SEECA Single Event Effect Criticality Analysis, Spon-sored by NASA Headquarters/Code QW URL: http://radhome.gsfc.nasa.gov/radhome/papers/seeca1htm.[10] A. Kounine, AMS beam test at GSI 31.10-9.11 2000, AMSNote DAQ-GSI September 29, 2000.B. Alpat et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 485 (2002) 183–187 187

A pulsed nanosecond IR laser diode system to automatically test the Single Event Effects in the laboratory

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A pulsed nanosecond IR laser diode system to automatically test the Single Event Effects in the laboratory

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