Simulation of neutron displacement damage in bipolar junction transistors using high-energy heavy ion beams.

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/913228· OSTI ID:913228

Doyle, Barney Lee; Buller, Daniel L.; Hjalmarson, Harold Paul; Fleming, Robert M; Bielejec, Edward Salvador; Vizkelethy, Gyorgy

Electronic components such as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) are damaged when they are exposed to radiation and, as a result, their performance can significantly degrade. In certain environments the radiation consists of short, high flux pulses of neutrons. Electronics components have traditionally been tested against short neutron pulses in pulsed nuclear reactors. These reactors are becoming less and less available; many of them were shut down permanently in the past few years. Therefore, new methods using radiation sources other than pulsed nuclear reactors needed to be developed. Neutrons affect semiconductors such as Si by causing atomic displacements of Si atoms. The recoiled Si atom creates a collision cascade which leads to displacements in Si. Since heavy ions create similar cascades in Si we can use them to create similar damage to what neutrons create. This LDRD successfully developed a new technique using easily available particle accelerators to provide an alternative to pulsed nuclear reactors to study the displacement damage and subsequent transient annealing that occurs in various transistor devices and potentially qualify them against radiation effects caused by pulsed neutrons.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 913228
• Report Number(s): SAND2006-7746
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATORS
ANNEALING
ATOMIC DISPLACEMENTS
ATOMS
HEAVY IONS
JUNCTION TRANSISTORS
Junction transistors-Simulation methods.
NEUTRONS
PERFORMANCE
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
REACTORS
SIMULATION
Silicon.
TRANSIENTS
TRANSISTORS