Dependence of the SEU window of vulnerability of a logic circuit on magnitude of deposited charge

Conference · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:6953146

Buchner, S; Kang, K ^[1]; Krening, D; Lannan, G; Schneiderwind, R ^[2]

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1. Martin Marietta Labs., Baltimore, MD (United States)
2. Martin Marietta Astronautics, Denver, CO (United States)

A pulsed picosecond laser was used to measure the time during which gates in a GaAs logic circuit were sensitive to single event upset (SEU). Circuit analysis showed that those gates would be most sensitive if the laser light arrived just prior to the clock signal going from low to high voltage. By delaying the clock signal with respect to the arrival time of the laser pulse, it was possible to measure a window of vulnerability,'' which is the time interval prior to the arrival of the clock signal during which the gate is sensitive to upsets. The width of that window was found to depend on the energy of the light pulse, becoming wider as the pulse energy increased. Similar behavior is expected when the circuit is exposed to ions. These results suggest that, at high frequencies and in the presence of ions with large LETs, gates in logic circuits may be sensitive to upsets during a large fraction of their duty cycle. This is the first experimental observation of such a window. The technique also provides an in situ way of measuring charge collection times at individual transistors and signal propagation times between logic gates using the circuit itself as the detector.

• OSTI ID: 6953146
• Report Number(s): CONF-930704--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) Journal Volume: 40:6Pt1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440200* -- Radiation Effects on Instrument Components
Instruments
or Electronic Systems
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LOGIC CIRCUITS
MEASURING METHODS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PNICTIDES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
SENSITIVITY
TIME DEPENDENCE