Energy Dependence of Tungsten-Dominated SEL Cross Sections

The energy dependence of proton-induced Single Event Latchup (SEL) failures is investigated for different Static Random Access Memories (SRAMs) and an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) through experimental measurements in the 30-230 MeV range. It is observed that for several of them, the measurements are not compatible with a saturation below the maximum energy tested. A Monte Carlo based model is proposed that explains the observed cross section increase through the presence of tungsten near the sensitive region and is used to extrapolate the SEL cross section to larger energies. The significant cross section increases expected by the model up to 3 GeV are quantified and discussed, potentially having a strong impact on the failure rate for energetic environments such as high-energy accelerators or the avionics contexts.