Effects of the pre‐neutron irradiation on VDMOSFET sensitivity to heavy ions

This article shows that irradiation with neutrons can be used as solution to harden commercial (COTS: Commercial‐Off‐The‐Shelf) n‐channel power MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) devices against destructive events induced by heavy ion irradiation. Atomic displacements created in silicon, by neutron irradiations, result in traps and recombination centers which reduce the electron‐hole pairs density generated by the heavy ion within the device. These results highlight a strong reduction in the photo‐current generated by the heavy ion, correlated with a reduction of the carrier lifetime.