Measuring Zero: Neutron Testing of Modern Digital Electronics

With the recent change from bulk complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors to FinFET transistors, it has become harder to measure neutron-induced single-event effect (SEE) cross sections, due to low sensitivities. These tests can be particularly challenging for experimenters who are used to the highly sensitive parts in the last decade where statistical significance (50–100 events) was quickly achieved in a few hours or days of SEE testing. In this article, statistical guidance is given for testing components that are designed to be hardened to SEEs.