An interesting application of radiation techniques by ISOF Gammacell – Analysis with impedance spectroscopy
Pierluigi Casolaro, Vincenzo Izzo, Riccardo Vari, Mila D’Angelantonio, Antonio Vanzanella, Claudio Principe, Arbab Imtiaz, Alberto Aloisio
Department of Physics ”Ettore Pancini”, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Univ. Monte S. Angelo, Napoli, I-80126, Italy – INFN Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Univ. Monte S. Angelo, Napoli, I-80126, Italy – INFN Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2, Roma, IT-00185, Italy – ISOF, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via P. Gobetti 101, Bologna, IT-40129, Italy – Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia G. Galilei, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 8, Padova, IT-35131, Italy
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.113367
Impedance Spectroscopy (IS), a well-established technique in electrochemistry, is applied in this work to investigate Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effects on Low-Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) receivers widely used in high-speed serial links. These devices were irradiated with 60Co gamma rays at a dose of 15.4 kGy with a dose rate of 364 Gy/h. Measurements of the current drawn by the receivers, and key waveform parameters such as amplitude, rise time, fall time, and bit error rate, showed no differences before and after irradiation. However, IS analysis, complemented by I-V measurements, identified radiation-induced changes that are generally difficult, or even impossible, to detect with traditional methods. IS enabled the modeling of different device sections through equivalent circuits based on two time constant networks, revealing TID effects both in the power rail, in the Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection circuit, as well as in the differential input pair and output buffer. This work shows that IS is a promising technique to investigate radiation effects on solid-state devices.
Power supply function generator, oscilloscope, readout and input boards (a), rear view of the DUT board (b) exposed to CERN CC60 60Co-gamma source, and front view of the DUT board (c).
The film batch was calibrated using the 220 Nordion Gammacell, Co gamma source, of the Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF-Bologna) at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). The dose rate at the DUTs’ position was found to be ( 364+/- 10) Gy/h, with an integrated dose of (15.40 +/- 0.01) kGy during the TID test, consistent with the values provided by the facility.
Link to full paper (open access): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969806X2500859X?via%3Dihub#d1e1098