Energy-Resolved Soft-Error Rate Measurements for 1-800 MeV Neutrons by the Time-of-Flight Technique at LANSCE

Abstract

Problems caused by neutron-induced soft errors in electrical devices are becoming increasingly common in various applications. The neutron-energy-dependent soft-error rate is indispensable for evaluating the frequency of such errors in different neutron fields. We have observed the energy-dependent neutron-induced error rates continuously over the energy range of 1-800 MeV at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). This was made possible by using extremely fast circuits built into field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) for time-of-flight measurement. Current experimental results revealed the overall trend of the error rate, which gradually increases up to 20 MeV. Interestingly, the rate depended on the type of device, and the errors occurred even below the threshold energy of the nuclear cross section of silicon, 2.75 MeV.