Assessment of the Quirónsalud Proton Therapy Centre Accelerator for Single Event Effects Testing

High-energy proton testing is used for single-event effect (SEE) qualification of electronics employed in several radiation-harsh environments. Given the increasing demand, exploiting the capabilities of proton therapy centers for electronics testing may become desirable. In this article, the focus is on the Quirónsalud Proton Therapy Centre, which makes use of a synchrocyclotron to accelerate protons within an energy range of 70–226 MeV. Lower energies can be obtained with degradation. The use of a synchrocyclotron may pose unique challenges for SEE testing, as opposed to the use of a cyclotron, because the time structure of the beam is very complex, and very intense instantaneous fluxes are delivered in highly localized areas of the device under test. Independent characterization measurements of the beam time structure and the beam uniformity were performed. SEE testing on some golden chips previously characterized in cyclotron facilities was also accomplished. These showed that the single-event upset (SEU) cross sections measured with this beam are in good agreement with those measured at cyclotrons in the 20–226-MeV proton energy range. As demonstrated by the SEU cross sections and by the analysis of multiple-cell upsets (MCUs), no beam pulse effects are observed that can alter the data collection on the chips despite the very intense instantaneous fluxes. A few limitations were also evidenced when testing with energies below 20 MeV and due to the fixed flux for testing.