Advanced Accelerator Concepts 2026

Single-event effect microelectronics testing using a compact laser-plasma accelerator electron source

28 Jul 2026, 15:10

20m

Legacy A (Luskin)

To be considered for Working Group talk A6-Working group # 6

Speaker

Sarah Schröder (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Description

Single-event effects pose a significant concern for the reliability of electronic systems in radiation-intensive environments, such as avionics, space, and high-energy physics applications. Current single-event effect testing of microelectronics relies on heavy ion test facilities with limited accessibility and critical limitations in achievable penetration depth and energy deposition. Electron
sources could offer a powerful complement to these capabilities, providing both deep penetration, which depends on the beam energy, and tunable energy deposition, which depends on the bunch charge. Here, we report the commissioning and inaugural test results of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) electron source specifically designed for the needs of single-event testing and correlate them with established heavy-ion benchmark data.

This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the ASSERT Program, grant number HR001124C0411.