Investigating SEU in a Silicon Component Irradiation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Firben
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Component Silicon
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of irradiation on a silicon component, specifically focusing on Single-Event Upsets (SEU) caused by an oxygen ion beam. The problem involves understanding the energy required to produce electron/hole pairs in silicon and interpreting a diagram related to Linear Energy Transfer (LET).

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are attempting to interpret the LET diagram and its values, particularly questioning the discrepancy between their readings and the values provided in the solution manual. There is discussion about how to accurately read the LET value corresponding to the energy of 10 MeV.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, sharing their interpretations of the LET diagram and comparing their findings. There is a recognition of the challenges posed by the logarithmic scale of the diagram, and some guidance is being offered regarding the interpretation of pixel values.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working with specific values for the silicon density and dimensions of the sensitive volume, while also grappling with the implications of the LET values and their significance in the context of SEU.

Firben
Messages
141
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


[/B]
A silicon component is irradiated in an accelerator. The oxygen ion beam is pointed in the direction of the shortest dimension of the sensitive volume of the device. The energy required for producing an electron/hole pair in silicon is 3.6 eV. It is found that the highest energy for which SEU (Single-Event Upsets or “soft errors”) is observed is 10 MeV/nucleon. Assume that the shortest dimension of the sensitive volume is 2 µm and that ion energies do not change during traveling.

Homework Equations



Ec = ρSi*d*LETm,th

Figure:
http://s716.photobucket.com/user/Pitoraq/media/LET_zpsqdevvbpw.png.html

The Attempt at a Solution



ρSi = 2.33 g/cm^2
d = 2μm

I have trouble to read of the diagram of what LETTh is. If the energy is 10 Mev and if i draw a straight line upward i got the value of 10^0 or 1 LET (Mev * cm^2/mg). In the solution manual the LETTh value is 0.85 why ?

Ec = 2.33*0.0002*0.9/10^-3 = 0.391 Mev
[/B]
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Firben said:
I have trouble to read of the diagram of what LETTh is. If the energy is 10 Mev and if i draw a straight line upward i got the value of 10^0 or 1 LET (Mev * cm^2/mg).
I get a smaller value, even a bit below 0.85.
 
Using your pixel values for the positions, I get about 0.87. I put it one pixel lower which gave 0.82. It is a log scale, so 15% difference is not much.
 

Similar threads

How Can Plasma Be Created and Ignited in Toroidal Fusion Reactors?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K