Single event transient characterisation of analog IC's for ESA's satellites

Abstract

The analysis of four self switch-off events in the power supply on-board ESA's SOHO satellite point strongly in the direction of being cosmic ray or proton induced. Detailed analysis of the relevant power supply schematics identified a number of analog IC's capable of causing or contributing to such events. This paper details the effort taken in order to characterise the upset sensitivity of the various analog IC's flown. Testing aspects and Single Event Transient (SET) results are presented. Ground testing, simulating the flight conditions, were carried out at both heavy ion and proton accelerators.