The Effect of 1–10-MeV Neutrons on the JESD89 Test Standard

Abstract

The JESD89 test standard defines how terrestrial neutron testing is conducted [1]. The test standard covers a number of different types of radiation used for testing, including protons, neutrons, and alphas, and different types of testing, including life testing and accelerated testing. Broad-spectrum neutron testing is the most common type of accelerated radiation testing for the terrestrial radiation environment. Unlike most test standards, the JESD89 defines the minimum energy for determining the cumulative fluence for the deployed and test environment. Currently, the minimum energy is set at 10 MeV. As the test standard is currently being rewritten, changing the minimum energy to 1 MeV is being explored, because it is believed that the onset to neutron-induced single-event effects (SEEs) is less than 10 MeV. There are three separate problems with lowering the minimum energy: determining whether electronics have a sensitivity to neutron-induced SEEs below 10 MeV, determining whether the test spectra match the terrestrial environment in the 1-10-MeV range, and the measurement error caused by not including the fluence from 1 to 10 MeV. In this paper, we present information on these factors and whether the minimum energy should be lowered to 1 MeV.