Modeling of proton induced SEUs

A comprehensive description of our model for quantitative estimation of proton induced single event upsets (SEU) cross sections is presented, and a detailed comparison to previous models is given. The main points compared are the nuclear fragmentation process and its role in the energy deposition in the sensitive volume. For a set of devices, where epsilon(c) < 10 MeV (epsilon(c) - the minimal energy deposited in the sensitive volume necessary to induce SEU), the prediction accuracy of the proton induced SEU cross section of our model is within tens of percents in agreement with the results of other models. For larger epsilon(c) the accuracy of all models decreases, possibly due to the inappropriate calculation of the energy deposited by the lightest fragments. Our model can thus serve for a quick and reasonably accurate prediction of the proton induced SEU cross section in microelectronic devices. Finally, the model predicts that only a small anisotropy of a proton induced SEU exists. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.