On the Vulnerability of UMOSFETs in Terrestrial Radiation Environments

TL;DR

This paper investigates the vulnerability of UMOSFETs to radiation-induced failures in terrestrial environments, comparing their susceptibility to traditional DMOSFETs and exploring failure mechanisms through simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first comparative analysis of UMOSFET and DMOSFET vulnerability to atmospheric neutron-induced SEBs and proposes strategies to improve UMOSFET survivability.

Findings

UMOSFETs are more susceptible to atmospheric neutron-induced SEBs than DMOSFETs.

Simulations reveal specific failure mechanisms in UMOSFETs under terrestrial radiation.

Proposed strategies could enhance the radiation resilience of next-generation UMOSFETs.

Abstract

The vulnerability of prominent silicon-based U-shaped Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (UMOSFET) to destructive radiation effects when operating in terrestrial atmospheric environments is addressed. It is known that secondary particles from nuclear reactions between atmospheric neutrons and the constituent materials of electronic devices can trigger Single-Event Burnout (SEB) destructive failure in power MOSFETs. The susceptibility of UMOSFETs to SEBs induced by atmospheric neutrons in accelerated tests are compared to that of similarly rated traditional Double-diffused MOSFET (DMOSFET) counterparts. Computational simulations are conducted to elucidate failure mechanisms and propose strategies to potentially enhance the survivability of next-generation UMOSFETs in high-reliability power systems operating on Earth.