Quantitative Prediction of Ion-Induced Single-Event Transients in an Operational Amplifier Using a Quasi-Bessel Beam Pulsed-Laser Approach

A recently mymargin developed pulsed-laser (PL) testing approach, which uses a quasi-Bessel beam (QBB) to better emulate a heavy-ion charge profile, is employed to predict the heavy-ion generated single-event transient (SET) response in an LM124 operational amplifier. The device is well suited for evaluating SET prediction since it consists of many transistors, each of which exhibits complicated transient features with strong spatial dependencies. Two photodiodes are first employed to ensure the necessary conditions for predictive testing are in place. The QBB is then adjusted to the desired laser-equivalent LET to test the entire LM124 chip. An SET feature-reduction approach is used to analyze the complex transient features measured. Subsequently, broadbeam heavy-ion data are acquired and analyzed, and the transient features are reproduced remarkably well with the existing QBB data. Additionally, a strong agreement is found for the worst-case transients generated by the two sources. Importantly, since the laser-equivalent LET is calculated without fitting or adjustable parameters, the QBB is capable of predicting ion-induced SET response in a complex device.