Development of a new data collection system and chamber for microbeam and laser investigations of single event phenomena

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Abstract

A new target chamber and control system for temperature-based transient-IBIC and transient-LBIC measurements using the same experimental chamber is outlined. The system has been designed for both ultra-fast and relatively slow transient measurements as a function of temperature from 77 K to 450 K. The control system, implemented in the Labview environment, allows single ion scanning and transient acquisition on a set of oscilloscopes, for an array of temperatures and bias. The modularity of the system allows its use for a broad range of experiments from single event upset transient current measurements to scanning ion deep level transient spectroscopy charge transient measurements. In this paper, we describe the overall system and illustrate its potential by way of example.

Introduction

In this paper we detail specifications of a new target chamber and data collection system for laser and ion microbeam transient ion (or laser) beam induced current (IBIC) measurements as a function of both position and temperature. In particular, measuring the transient current waveform induced by heavy ions has been a useful method for investigating charge collection processes which lead to a single event upset (SEU) [1], [2], [3], [4]. Transient or time-resolved IBIC methods have also been used to quantitatively measure defect associated trap levels in Si [5], [6], to monitor the effects of neutron damage on the current transient [7] and to measure the minority carrier lifetime [8]. Focused lasers have also been widely applied for research into SEU phenomenon due to their ease of use, low cost and the additional timing control available to pulsed lasers [9], [10], [11]. Laser and ion microbeam systems are in a sense complimentary tools for SEU analysis.

Technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulation has been successfully used for simulating SEU effects produced by MeV heavy ions striking a semiconductor device [12]. However, to date there has been little work comparing the experimentally observed current transients induced by ion and laser irradiations with that predicted by TCAD. To the authors knowledge there are currently no systems which can perform both pulsed picosecond laser and ion irradiations in the same chamber at the same time. This system attempts to fill this lack. Furthermore, until recently the temperature dependence of single event processes has received relatively little attention from the research community. Although there has been some theoretical conjecture regarding the current transient dependence with temperature, there has been little or no experimental evidence to support simulation. Since charge collection is a strong function of device temperature a cryogenic target chamber for transient-I(L)BIC measurements is extremely useful. The construction of a cryogenic chamber for the heavy ion microbeam opens up the possibility of using more temperature dependent spectroscopic techniques on the microbeam, or, combining independent techniques in the same experimental configuration. An example of such a technique is scanning ion deep level transient spectroscopy (SIDLTS), which is described in detail elsewhere [5], [13].

Section snippets

The overall system design

The main function of the chamber is for scanned ion and laser measurements as a function of several variables including temperature. A schematic which illustrates the overall system design is given in Fig. 1. The focused ion or laser beam enters the left of the chamber. For microbeam experiments it will be attached to the end of the JAERI heavy ion microbeam as shown in Fig. 2. For laser analysis the chamber and its low vibration UHV system are mounted onto a custom designed optical bench also

Data collection system

The data collection system uses the Labview software environment for easy integration of all system components. NI-GPIB PCMCIA and NI-DAQ1200 PCMCIA cards are used to control all of the relevant equipment from a notebook computer. The scanning system can perform either electrostatic scanning of the ion beam or stage scanning of the laser beam. For the ion case, beam scanning is controlled by the DAQ card in conjunction with four Kepco power supplies. The XYZ stage is fully automated for sample

Results and discussions

Transient-IBIC data collected using the new system is briefly presented for three cases which use markedly different experimental configurations:

  • 1.

    Transient-IBIC data collected from an abrupt Si p–n diode using the SCD5000 superconducting delay line system and Laser system (HeNe).

  • 2.

    Simultaneous three channel transient-IBIC data collected from an NMOSFET using the Tektronix TDS694C.

  • 3.

    Temperature transient-IBIC data collected from a Si bulk sample with a 20μm epilayer.

In the first case the analog

Conclusion

A new cryogenic chamber and data collection system for transient L(I)BIC measurements as a function of position and temperature has been described and illustrated by examples of application. With the system now complete we intend to make detailed laser and ion measurements and compare these results with ISE TCAD simulations. Through doing so we wish to more fully investigate the use of lasers and MeV ions for simulating SEU phenomenon.

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