Single event burnout (SEB) is a condition that can cause devicedestruction due to a high current state in a power transistor. SEBcauses the device to fail permanently. SEBs include burnout of powerMOSFETs, gate rupture, frozen bits, and noise in CCDs (charge-coupleddevices). SEB of power MOSFETs was first reported by Waskiewiczet al. in 1986. Only SEB of n-channel power MOSFETs hasbeen reported.[10] An SEB can be triggered in a power MOSFET biasedin the OFF state (i.e., blocking a high drain-source voltage)when a heavy ion passing through deposits enough charge to turn the deviceon. SEB susceptibility has been shown to decrease with increasing temperature.
A power MOSFET may undergo single-event gate rupture (SEGR), whichis the formation of a conducting path (i.e., localized dielectricbreakdown) in the gate oxide resulting in a destructive burnout.Fischer was the first to report on SEGR of power MOSFETs in 1987.SEB can also occur in bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) as wasfirst reported by Titus et al. in 1991. Swift et al.have described a new hard error, that of single-event dielectricrupture (SEDR). SEDR (also referred to as micro-damage)occurs in CMOS and is similar to SEGR observed in power MOSFETs.
