{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T11:41:10Z","timestamp":1778154070446,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]],"date-time":"2020-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1590451200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Neutron test campaigns on silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs and IGBTs were conducted at the TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) Mark II (Pavia, Italy) nuclear reactor and ChipIr-ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (Didcot, U.K.) facility. About 2000 power transistors made by STMicroelectronics were tested in all the experiments. Tests with thermal and fast neutrons (up to about 10 MeV) at the TRIGA Mark II reactor showed that single-event burnout (SEB) failures only occurred at voltages close to the rated drain-source voltage. Thermal neutrons did not induce SEB, nor degradation in the electrical parameters of the devices. SEB failures during testing at ChipIr with ultra-fast neutrons (1-800 MeV) were evaluated in terms of failure in time (FIT) versus derating voltage curves according to the JEP151 procedure of the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC). These curves, even if scaled with die size and avalanche voltage, were strongly linked to the technological processes of the devices, although a common trend was observed that highlighted commonalities among the failures of different types of MOSFETs. In both experiments, we observed only SEB failures without single-event gate rupture (SEGR) during the tests. None of the power devices that survived the neutron tests were degraded in their electrical performances. A study of the worst-case bias condition (gate and\/or drain) during irradiation was performed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s20113021","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,28]],"date-time":"2020-05-28T12:36:58Z","timestamp":1590669418000},"page":"3021","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":24,"title":["Accelerated Tests on Si and SiC Power Transistors with Thermal, Fast and Ultra-Fast Neutrons"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2787-0877","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Principato","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Chemistry - Emilio Segr\u00e8 (DiFC), University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 18, 90128 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1376-3686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saverio","family":"Altieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics\u2014University of Pavia and National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Via Bassi, 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Abbene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Chemistry - Emilio Segr\u00e8 (DiFC), University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 18, 90128 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Pintacuda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"STMicroelectronics, Stradale Primosole 50, 95121 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2913","DOI":"10.1109\/23.556885","article-title":"First observations of power MOSFET burnout with high energy neutrons","volume":"43","author":"Oberg","year":"1996","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1147\/rd.401.0019","article-title":"Terrestrial cosmic rays","volume":"40","author":"Ziegler","year":"1996","journal-title":"IBM J. Res. Dev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1557\/mrs2003.41","article-title":"Cosmic-Ray Neutrons on the Ground and in the Atmosphere","volume":"28","author":"Goldhagen","year":"2003","journal-title":"MRS Bull."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/j.microrel.2015.12.019","article-title":"Ensuring the reliability of power electronic devices with regard to terrestrial cosmic radiation","volume":"58","author":"Soelkner","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microelectron. Reliab."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"584","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sse.2009.03.025","article-title":"Accurate analytical modelling of cosmic ray induced failure rates of power semiconductor devices","volume":"53","author":"Bauer","year":"2009","journal-title":"Solid-State Electron."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3427","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2004.839134","article-title":"Measurement of the flux and energy spectrum of cosmic-ray induced neutrons on the ground","volume":"51","author":"Gordon","year":"2004","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"(2006). Measurement and Reporting of Alpha Particle and Terrestrial Cosmic Ray-Induced Soft Errors in Semiconductor Devices. JEDEC Stand., JESD89A."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2687","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2011.2168540","article-title":"Single Event Effects in Power MOSFETs Due to Atmospheric and Thermal Neutrons","volume":"58","author":"Hands","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lambert, D., Desnoyers, F., Thouvenot, D., and Azais, B. (2014, January 14\u201318). Single Event Effects in Power MOSFETs and IGBTs Due to 14 MeV and 25 meV Neutrons. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Radiation Effects Data Workshop (REDW), Paris, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/REDW.2014.7004592"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1016\/j.microrel.2016.03.027","article-title":"A concise study of neutron irradiation effects on power MOSFETs and IGBTs","volume":"62","author":"Yazdi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microelectron. Reliab."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"559","DOI":"10.4028\/www.scientific.net\/MSF.924.559","article-title":"Reliability of SiC Power Devices against Cosmic Ray Neutron Single-Event Burnout","volume":"924","author":"Lichtenwalner","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mater. Sci. Forum"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lichtenwalner, D.J., Hull, B., Van Brunt, E., Sabri, S., Gajewski, D.A., Grider, D., Allen, S., Palmour, J.W., Akturk, A., and McGarrity, J. (2018, January 11\u201315). Reliability studies of SiC vertical power MOSFETs. Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), Burlingame, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/IRPS.2018.8353544"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"529","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2016.2640945","article-title":"Single Event Effects in Si and SiC Power MOSFETs Due to Terrestrial Neutrons","volume":"64","author":"Akturk","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1248","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2018.2833741","article-title":"Terrestrial Neutron-Induced Failures in Silicon Carbide Power MOSFETs and Diodes","volume":"65","author":"Akturk","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1828","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2019.2919334","article-title":"Predicting Cosmic Ray-Induced Failures in Silicon Carbide Power Devices","volume":"66","author":"Akturk","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1912","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2013.2252194","article-title":"An Updated Perspective of Single Event Gate Rupture and Single Event Burnout in Power MOSFETs","volume":"60","author":"Titus","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2018.2885734","article-title":"Estimating Terrestrial Neutron-Induced SEB Cross Sections and FIT Rates for High-Voltage SiC Power MOSFETs","volume":"66","author":"Ball","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"(2015). Test Procedure for the Measurement of Terrestrial Cosmic Ray Induced Destructive Effects in Power Semiconductor Devices. JEDEC Stand., JEP151."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012037","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-6596\/1021\/1\/012037","article-title":"Progress of the Scientific Commissioning of a fast neutron beamline for Chip Irradiation","volume":"1021","author":"Cazzaniga","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Phys. Conf. Ser."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3109","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2014.2371892","article-title":"Tolerance Against Terrestrial Neutron-Induced Single-Event Burnout in SiC MOSFETs","volume":"61","author":"Asai","year":"2014","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Felgemacher, C., Ara\u00fajo, S.V., Zacharias, P., Nesemann, K., and Gruber, A. (2016, January 12\u201316). Cosmic radiation ruggedness of Si and SiC power semiconductors. Proceedings of the 2016 28th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD), Prague, Czech Republic.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISPSD.2016.7520775"},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Werner, C. (MCNP Users Manual, 2017). MCNP Users Manual, Los Alamos National Laboratory, report LA-UR-17-29981."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nimb.2017.10.023","article-title":"Neutron flux and gamma dose measurement in the BNCT irradiation facility at the TRIGA reactor of the University of Pavia","volume":"414","author":"Bortolussi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. B"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Pintacuda, F., D\u2019Arrigo, S., Di Mauro, A., Cantarella, V., Principato, F., and Cazzaniga, C. (2020, May 26). CHIPIR Commercial: Neutron test on Mosfet from STMicroelectronics, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. Available online: https:\/\/data.isis.stfc.ac.uk\/doi\/STUDY\/108678764\/."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/18811248.2011.9711675","article-title":"JENDL-4.0: A New Library for Nuclear Science and Engineering","volume":"48","author":"Shibata","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Nucl. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pintacuda, F., Cantarella, V., Muschitiello, M., and Massetti, S. (October, January 30). Prototyping and characterization of radiation hardened SiC MOS structures. Proceedings of the 2019 European Space Power Conference (ESPC), Juan-les-Pins, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/ESPC.2019.8931985"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bolotnikov, A., Losee, P., Permuy, A., Dunne, G., Kennerly, S., Rowden, B., Nasadoski, J., Harfman-Todorovic, M., Raju, R., and Tao, F. (2015, January 15\u201319). Overview of 12kV\u20132.2kV SiC MOSFETs targeted for industrial power conversion applications. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), Charlotte, NC, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/APEC.2015.7104691"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1711","DOI":"10.1016\/S0026-2714(97)00146-7","article-title":"Cosmic ray induced failures in high power semiconductor devices","volume":"37","author":"Zeller","year":"1997","journal-title":"Microelectron. Reliab."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mitin, E.V., and Malinin, V.G. (2015, January 14\u201318). Investigation of SEGR Cross-Section in Power MOSFETs under Proton Irradiation. Proceedings of the 2015 15th European Conference on Radiation and Its Effects on Components and Systems (RADECS), Moscow, Russia.","DOI":"10.1109\/RADECS.2015.7365624"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2920","DOI":"10.1109\/TNS.2012.2223761","article-title":"Statistical Analysis of Heavy-Ion Induced Gate Rupture in Power MOSFETs\u2014Methodology for Radiation Hardness Assurance","volume":"59","author":"Binois","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/20\/11\/3021\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:32:50Z","timestamp":1760175170000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/20\/11\/3021"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6]]}},"alternative-id":["s20113021"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s20113021","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,26]]}}}