Comparative Study on the Transients Induced by Single Event Effect and Space Electrostatic Discharge

Space radiation-induced Single Event Effect (SEE) and Space Electrostatic Discharge (SESD) are two significant phenomena which cause spacecraft anomalies. However, it is difficult to differentiate between them when trying to identify the root causes of the on-orbit anomalies. This paper pioneers the study of similarities and difference between transients induced by SEE and those induced by SESD. The work is done with the LM124, a well-known operational amplifier. The physical mechanisms between the transients induced by SEE and SESD are studied using H-SPICE simulations. The characteristics of the transient waveforms and the relationship with an external stimulus between SEE and SESD are further investigated with a pulsed laser SEE facility and SESD test system, respectively. The results show that similar transient waveforms can be generated at the device output by both SEE and SESD, while bipolar transients are found only in SEE testing. The different output transient signatures could be used to identify the root causes of spacecraft anomalies.