Prediction of proton-induced SEE error rates for the VATA160 ASIC

Abstract

We predict proton single event effect (SEE) error rates for the VATA160 ASIC chip on the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) to evaluate its radiation tolerance. Lacking proton test facilities, we built a Monte Carlo simulation tool named PRESTAGE to calculate the proton SEE cross-sections. PRESTAGE is based on the particle transport toolkit Geant4. It adopts a location-dependent strategy to derive the SEE sensitivity of the device from heavy-ion test data, which have been measured at the HI-13 tandem accelerator of the China Institute of Atomic Energy and the heavy-ion research facility in Lanzhou. The AP-8, SOLPRO, and August 1972 worst-case models are used to predict the average and peak proton fluxes on the DAMPE orbit. Calculation results show that the averaged proton SEE error rate for the VATA160 chip is approximately 2.17 × 10−5/device/day. Worst-case error rates for the Van Allen belts and solar energetic particle events are 1–3 orders of magnitude higher than the averaged error rate.