FIRST OBSERVATION OF PROTON-INDUCED POWER MOSFET BURNOUT IN-SPACE - THE CRUX EXPERIMENT ON APEX

Ground testing has shown that power MOSFETs are susceptible to burnout when irradiated with heavy ions and protons. Satellite data from the Cosmic Ray Upset Experiment (CRUX) demonstrate that single event burno uts (SEBs) on 100-volt and 200-volt power MOSFETs can and do occur in space. Few SEBs occurred on the 100-volt devices, all at L(1) > 3. The 200-volt devices experienced many SEBs at L < 3 when drain-to-source voltage (V-D-S) was greater than 85% of maximum rated voltage. CRUX fl ight lot devices were ground tested with protons. The SEE rates calcul ated with the cross-sections from the ground tests show close agreemen t with the measured rates.