Abstract
Single event effect (SEE) and space electrostatic discharge (SESD) are two important types of effects causing spacecraft anomalies. However, it is difficult to differentiate them to identify the root cause of on-orbit anomalies. This paper pioneers the comparative study of the “soft errors” induced by the SEE and SESD with a well-known static random-access memory (SRAM). The similarity and difference of the physical mechanisms between the “soft errors” induced by SEE and SESD are studied with the technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations. Meanwhile, the characteristics of the “soft errors” and the relation with external stimulus between SEE and SESD are further investigated with the pulsed laser SEE facility and SESD test system. The results showed that the similar appearances of “soft errors” can be generated by both SEE and SESD, while multiple-bit upset (MBU) has been observed only in SESD testing. In addition, in comparison to the random distribution of SEE sensitivity areas, the SESD sensitivity areas are in closer proximity to the power supply regions. The different symptoms in upsets can be used to identify the root causes of the spacecraft anomalies.
Highlights
Accepted: 23 March 2021Many studies of the anomalous phenomena of spacecraft showed that single event effect (SEE) and space electrostatic discharge (SESD) resulting from spacecraft charging remained the major failure mechanisms for electronics on spacecraft around the world [1,2,3].Many recoverable soft errors were observed on spacecraft electronic systems, such as upset in memory circuits, voltage glitch in linear circuits and loss of functionality in digital integrated circuits, which are often caused by these two types of space environment effects in the previous experiences of aerospace engineering
The remainder of this paper was organized as follows: Section 2 presents the comparisons of the mechanisms caused by SEE and SESD using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation; Section 3 describes the details of the experimental setup; Section 4 presents the comparison of the characteristics of soft errors, the sensitive areas, and the effect of bias voltage with a pulsed laser and ESD generator excitation; and Section 5 presents the conclusions drawn from the study
In order to further investigate the similarities and differences of soft errors induced by SEE and SESD, the SEE and SESD radiation experiments on the static random-access memory (SRAM) were performed at the pulsed-laser single event effect facility and SESD test system [15], respectively, at the National Space Science Center
Summary
Many studies of the anomalous phenomena of spacecraft showed that single event effect (SEE) and space electrostatic discharge (SESD) resulting from spacecraft charging remained the major failure mechanisms for electronics on spacecraft around the world [1,2,3]. This paper was the first attempt to comparatively study the soft errors induced by SEE and SESD on memory circuits, aimed at identifying the relevant details of these two effects It reveals the differences and similarities of failure mechanisms, the upset characteristics, the sensitive areas and the relationship with the external stimulus caused by SEE and SESD from an interdisciplinary perspective. It demonstrates that the differences in upset characteristics and sensitive areas from the two effects can be used as preliminary screening criteria to diagnose the root causes of anomalies induced by the space radiation effect in spacecraft electronic systems. The remainder of this paper was organized as follows: Section 2 presents the comparisons of the mechanisms caused by SEE and SESD using TCAD simulation; Section 3 describes the details of the experimental setup; Section 4 presents the comparison of the characteristics of soft errors, the sensitive areas, and the effect of bias voltage with a pulsed laser and ESD generator excitation; and Section 5 presents the conclusions drawn from the study
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