Study of basic mechanisms of single event upset using high-energy microbeams

High-energy ion microbeams were applied to the study of basic mechanisms of single event upset (SEU). Current transients induced in silicon p-n junction diodes by single ion strikes of a 2 MeV helium ion microbeam were measured by using a high-speed digitizing sampling technique. Clear and reproducible current transients were obtained without any trace of pulse pileup. The influence of the radiation damage on the current transients is discussed in conjunction with the digitizing sampling method. (orig.)