Analysis of Single-event Upset for SRAM Devices by Using the MC-50 Cyclotron

Abstract

When high-energy particles hit electronic memory elements, stored data can be changed by the excessive charge produced by the collisions. This bit-flip error is known as single event upset (SEU). Even at. sea-level, the occurrence of SEU in electronic devices is growing as the geometry of devices gets smaller and the supply voltage becomes lower. We extract the neutron SEU cross sections for commercial SRAM devices by using the MC-50 cyclotron accelerator at Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS). To extract the SEU cross sections as a function of the neutron energy, we propose an approximate subtraction method to take into account the non-monoenergetic nature of the neutron beam from the MC-50 cyclotron. Our results for the SEU cross sections agree within a factor of 2 similar to 3 with those of previous studies done in other facilities.