Application of a Laser-Plasma Accelerator to Study Single Event Effects in a Microelectronic Device

Abstract

Bit flip errors were detected in microcontroller memory cells after irradiation by laser accelerated proton beams. The protons with energies of up to 6 MeV originated from the back surface of 6-μm-thick aluminum foils under the action of laser pulses from 200 TW femtosecond facility. It was established that the failures were caused by single event effects and cross section of the effects was estimated. The experiment demonstrates for the first time the possibility of using laser-plasma accelerators to study single event effects from low-energy protons.