The qualification of space electronics increasingly relies on very-high-energy heavy ion (VHEHI) beams, which provide deep penetration and high linear energy transfer (LET), enabling realistic testing of complex, packaged commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components or full boards. However, dosimetry at these energies remains challenging, and harmonized approaches across facilities are lacking. A dosimetry method combining energy deposition spectra measured by a commercial silicon detector with FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations was previously developed and benchmarked at CERN within the EU-funded HEARTS project. In this work, the method was validated through a systematic intercomparison of four leading VHEHI facilities: GSI, HIMAC, NSRL, and CERN. Across all facilities, a strong linear correlation between measured and simulated peak energy deposition values was consistently observed, demonstrating the robustness of the approach for reliable LET extraction. Facility-specific insights were obtained: accelerator energy variation is preferable to heavy degradation to minimize LET spread, heavier ions outperform degraded lighter ions, and CERN’s tailored lead-ion beams now provide LET coverage comparable to reference facilities. Complementary pulse-shape analysis further identified detector-related artifacts and allowed to refine the measured energy deposition spectra. This work establishes a validated framework for unified VHEHI dosimetry, supporting harmonization of test protocols and enabling reliable radiation effects qualification of next-generation space electronics with VHEHI beams in Europe and worldwide.

Multiple samples of five different references of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components have been irradiated at various heavy-ion facilities, with the goal of measuring the single-event latch-up (SEL) cross sections of the devices. The study includes the measurement of SEL cross sections of various devices under test (DUTs) of the same reference, and the part-to-part variations of latch-up sensitivities are reported. The devices were tested at the standard energy (10–20 MeV/n) heavy-ion cocktail beam facility RADEF, as well as the highenergy (around 100–1000 MeV/n) heavy-ion irradiation facilities NSRL and HEARTS@CERN. The consequences of off-peak LET ions present at the DUT location of the HEARTS@CERN facility in the most heavily degraded beams are also discussed for the performed SEL cross section measurements.

Electronic systems distributed along high-energy particle accelerators need rigorous radiation hardness qualifications to ensure adequate availability of the beam. This work presents the radiation levels on a distributed system, featuring a commercial Cypress 90-nm memory, which is deployed around the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest accelerator within the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This investigated system is a part of the LHC magnet power converter system, with 752 units distributed under the LHC beamline and 256 units within shielded areas close to the accelerator tunnel. The radiation levels on the system were put in relation to the radiation qualifications and operational goals of the system. The embedded commercial memory has previously been tested for radiation effects and has a characterized upset cross section. The use of these distributed devices with known cross sections as an aid in radiation level monitoring is also discussed.

We perform single-event effect (SEE) tests with well-characterized fully fragmented (i.e., beyond Bragg peak) high-energy heavy-ion beams and compare the results with those expected from conventional, mono-linear energy transfer (mono-LET) measurements, showing a satisfactory level of agreement between the two. This compliance paves the way for the exploitation of simulation tools for accurately quantifying the ion fragmentation impact on SEE rates for both ground-level testing conditions and space galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) environments, with electronics operating behind significant thicknesses of shielding. The satisfactory agreement level is also encouraging in view of the possible usage of fragmented heavy-ion beams for ground-level SEE testing of electronics.

The effect of 53-MeV proton irradiation on the reliability of silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs was investigated. Postirradiation gate voltage stress was applied, and early failures in time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) tests were observed for irradiated devices. The applied drain voltage during irradiation affects the degradation probability observed by TDDB tests. Proton-induced single-event burnouts (SEBs) were observed for devices that were biased close to their maximum rated voltage. The secondary particle production as a result of primary proton interaction with the device material was simulated with the Geant4-based toolkit.

Three synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs) from the same manufacturer with technology node sizes 110, 72, and 63 nm, were investigated under proton irradiation and using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The radiation-induced faults were characterized and compared between the different part types. The devices under test (DUTs) were irradiated with protons and experienced single-event effects (SEEs) in the form of stuck bits and single-bit upsets (SBUs). Analysis of the data retention times of bits which had SBU and were stuck during irradiation showed similar patterns of retention-time degradation, suggesting that the SBUs and stuck bits in all the three part types could be induced by the same mechanism. Detailed data retention-time analyses were also performed before and after irradiation to investigate the evolution of data retention times after irradiation and after periods of annealing. The largest radiation-induced retention-time losses were found to anneal, but the bits least affected directly after irradiation experienced decreasing data retention time as a function of annealing time. SEM imaging showed differences in the memory cell structure between the tested part types. The largest node size device was the most sensitive to radiation, both for SEE and cumulative radiation effects.

The effect of 20 MeV electron radiation on the lifetime of the silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs was investigated. Accelerated constant voltage stress (CVS) was applied on the pristine and irradiated devices, and time-to-breakdown ( ${T_{\mathrm {BD}}}$ ) and charge-to-breakdown ( ${Q_{\mathrm {BD}}}$ ) of gate oxide were extracted and compared. The effect of electron radiation on the device lifetime reduction can be observed at lower stress gate-to-source voltage ( ${V_{\mathrm {GS}}}$ ) levels. The models of ${T_{\mathrm {BD}}}$ and ${Q_{\mathrm {BD}}}$ dependence on the initial gate current ( ${I_{G0}}$ ) are proposed, which can be used to describe the device breakdown behavior.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are currently one of the most widely used predictive models in machine learning. Recent studies have demonstrated that hardware faults induced by radiation fields, including cosmic rays, may significantly impact the CNN inference leading to wrong predictions. Therefore, ensuring the reliability of CNNs is crucial, especially for safety-critical systems. In the literature, several works propose reliability assessments of CNNs mainly based on statistically injected faults. This work presents a software emulator capable of injecting real faults retrieved from radiation tests. Specifically, from the device characterisation of a DRAM memory, we extracted event rates and fault models. The software emulator can reproduce their incidence and access their effect on CNN applications with a reliability assessment precision close to the physical one. Radiation-based physical injections and emulator-based injections are performed on three CNNs (LeNet-5) exploiting different data representations. Their outcomes are compared, and the software results evidence that the emulator is able to reproduce the faulty behaviours observed during the radiation tests for the targeted CNNs. This approach leads to a more concise use of radiation experiments since the extracted fault models can be reused to explore different scenarios (e.g., impact on a different application).

Integrated circuits (ICs) are a keystone for most critical applications operating in high-level radiation environments, spanning from high-energy nuclear applications up to space applications. The long-term reliability of these applications is essential for safe operation. However, the radiation effects for ICs are commonly investigated using fresh circuits, leaving the coupled effect of radiation and aging degradation unknown. This article investigates the impact of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) aging degradation mechanism on the heavy-ion single event upset (SEU) radiation susceptibility of 28-nm ultra-thin body and buried oxide (UTBB) fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) technology using a custom-designed test vehicle. NBTI aging degradation mechanism has been experimentally proven to increase the SEU sensitivity up to $2\times $ for 28-nm UTBB FD-SOI flip-flops. A comprehensive framework is presented to analyze the underlying mechanisms for the impact of NBTI, which includes NBTI aging mechanism modeling, SEU SPICE simulation, TCAD irradiation simulation, and Monte-Carlo simulation of radiation effects. The framework offered a quantitative prediction of the effect of NBTI degradation mechanism on the heavy-ion SEU radiation sensitivity.

The radiation-induced emission (RIE) of Gd3+-doped sol–gel silica glass has been shown to have suitable properties for use in the dosimetry of beams of ionizing radiation in applications such as radiotherapy. Linear electron accelerators are commonly used as clinical radiotherapy beams, and in this paper, the RIE properties were investigated under electron irradiation. A monochromator setup was used to investigate the light properties in selected narrow wavelength regions, and a spectrometer setup was used to measure the optical emission spectra in various test configurations. The RIE output as a function of depth in acrylic was measured and compared with a reference dosimeter system for various electron energies, since the dose–depth measuring abilities of dosimeters in radiotherapy is of key interest. The intensity of the main radiation-induced luminescence (RIL) of the Gd3+-ions at 314 nm was found to well represent the dose as a function of depth, and was possible to separate from the Cherenkov light that was also induced in the measurement setup. After an initial suppression of the luminescence following the electron bunch, which is ascribed to a transient radiation-induced attenuation from self-trapped excitons (STEX), the 314 nm component was found to have a decay time of approximately 1.3 ms. An additional luminescence was also observed in the region 400 nm to 600 nm originating from the decay of the STEX centers, likely exhibiting an increasing luminescence with a dose history in the tested sample.

Stuck and weakened bits in the ISSI 512 Mb SDRAM was investigated in irradiation experiments with a heavy ion microbeam in the GSI facility. Delidded memories were tested in gold and calcium ion beams at 4.8 MeV/u, and stuck bits in the memory from the irradiation were investigated. To study weakened but not fully stuck bits after irradiation, parameters such as the refresh frequency of the memories was varied. The effect on the number of stuck bits from reading and writing the memory was studied, as well as the effect from waiting a time span between writing and reading the memory. These parameters were found to matter in the observed number of errors in the memory. Data on the findings from the microbeam irradiation from tests with different test modes are presented in this paper regarding suck bits and bit upsets. The test modes include dynamic March test and data retention tests with only refresh operations during irradiation.

The vertical line fault mechanism occurring in NAND flash devices under heavy-ion irradiation is described in detail. The location where the fault is generated as well as the recovery sequence are identified.

This study analyses the response of synchronous dynamic random access memories to neutron irradiation. Three different generations of the same device with different node sizes (63, 72, and 110 nm) were characterized under an atmospheric-like neutron spectrum at the ChipIr beamline in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, UK. The memories were tested with a reduced refresh rate to expose more single-event upsets and under similar conditions provided by a board specifically developed for this type of study in test facilities. The board has also been designed to be used as a nanosatellite payload in order to perform similar tests. The neutron-induced failures were studied and characterized, presenting the occurrence of single-bit upsets and stuck bits. The cross sections for each type of event and technology node show that the 110 nm model is more sensitive to neutron-induced single-event effects than the other models.

Radiation-induced emission of doped sol-gel silica glass samples was investigated under a pulsed 20-MeV electron beam. The studied samples were drawn rods doped with cerium, copper, or gadolinium ions, which were connected to multimode pure-silica core fibers to transport the induced luminescence from the irradiation area to a signal readout system. The luminescence pulses in the samples induced by the electron bunches were studied as a function of deposited dose per electron bunch. All the investigated samples were found to have a linear response in terms of luminescence as a function of electron bunch sizes between 10−5 Gy/bunch and 1.5×10−2 Gy/bunch. The presented results show that these types of doped silica rods can be used for monitoring a pulsed electron beam, as well as to evaluate the dose deposited by the individual electron bunches. The electron accelerator used in the experiment was a medical type used for radiation therapy treatments, and these silica rod samples show high potential for dosimetry in radiotherapy contexts.

aining the sample trace (channel 1) and a parallel signal from a Si diode (channel 2), stored after the channel trace 1 in the binary file. The files can be extracted using an included python function in the data set. Further information is available in the Readme file included in the data set.

Functional verification schemes at a level different from component-level testing are emerging as a cost-effective tool for those space systems for which the risk associated with a lower level of assurance can be accepted. Despite the promising potential, system-level radiation testing can be applied to the functional verification of systems under restricted intrinsic boundaries. Most of them are related to the use of hadrons as opposed to heavy ions. Hadrons are preferred for the irradiation of any bulky system, in general, because of their deeper penetration capabilities. General guidelines about the test preparation and procedure for a high-level radiation test are provided to allow understanding which information can be extracted from these kinds of functional verification schemes in order to compare them with the reliability and availability requirements. The use of a general scaling factor for the observed high-level cross sections allows converting test cross sections into orbit rates.

Pions make up a large part of the hadronic environment typical of accelerator mixed fields. Characterizing device cross sections against pions is usually disregarded in favor of tests with protons, whose single-event latch-up (SEL) cross section is, nonetheless, experimentally found to be lower than that of pions for all energies below 250 MeV. While Monte Carlo simulations are capable of reproducing such behavior, the reason for the observed pion cross-section enhancement can only be explained by a deeper analysis of the underlying mechanisms dominating proton-silicon and pion-silicon reactions. The mechanisms dominating the SEL response are found to vary with the energy under consideration. While a higher pion nuclear reaction rate, that is, probability of interaction, can explain the observed latch-up cross-section enhancement at energies >100 MeV, it is the volume-equivalent linear energy transfer (LETEQ) of the secondary ions that keeps the pion latch-up response high at lower energies. The higher LETEQ of secondary ions from pion-silicon interactions is caused by the pion absorption mechanism, which is highly exothermic. In spite of the observed higher cross section for pions, the high-energy hadron approximation is found to still provide reliable estimations of the latch-up response of a device in mixed fields.

This study investigates the response of synchronous dynamic random access memories to energetic electrons and especially the possibility of electrons to cause stuck bits in these memories. Three different memories with different node sizes (63, 72, and 110 nm) were tested. Electrons with energies between 6 and 200 MeV were used at RADiation Effects Facility (RADEF) in Jyväskylä, Finland, and at Very energetic Electron facility for Space Planetary Exploration missions in harsh Radiative environments (VESPER) in The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland. Photon irradiation was also performed in Jyväskylä. In these irradiation tests, stuck bits originating from electron-induced single-event effects (SEEs) were found, as well as single bit-flips from single electrons. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first time that stuck bits from single-electron events have been reported in the literature. It is argued in the article that the single-event bit-flips and stuck bits are caused by the same damage mechanism, which would be large displacement damage clusters, and that the two different fault modes represent different amounts of damage to the memory cell. After a large particle fluence, a rapid increase in the error rate was observed, originating from the accumulation of smaller displacement damage clusters in the memory cells. The 110-nm memory was a candidate component to fly on the European Space Agency (ESA) JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, so the SEE cross section as a function of electron energy was compared to the expected electron environment encountered by JUICE to estimate the error rates during the mission.

In this study, static and dynamic test methods were used to define the response of a self-refresh DRAM under thermal neutron irradiation. The neutron-induced failures were investigated and characterized by event cross-sections, soft-error rate and bitmaps evaluations, leading to an identification of permanent and temporarily stuck cells, block errors, and single-bit upsets.