Abstract
The electronic devices are used in the space, military, and nuclear sectors and can be exposed to a Total Ionizing Dose (TID). Cobalt-60 is the most commonly used radioactive source for testing these components, unlike X-ray generators, which are limited to an average energy of 10 keV. In contrast, high-energy X-ray generators offer significant advantages for these tests, such as simplified safety management, the ability to collimate photons to target specific components, a high dose rate that reduces testing time, and lower acquisition and maintenance costs.To evaluate the TID at the system level or to establish a reference, this study proposes the use of a high-energy X-ray generator capable of reaching voltages up to 320 kV and producing photons up to 320 keV. Although X-rays have a certain penetration depth, low-energy photons can cause significant photoelectric effects, influencing the absorbed dose based on the atomic number of the materials. To address this, we propose the use of a lead filter to limit these low-energy photons. Simulations were conducted using TASMICS, GEANT4, and SpeckPy software to study the produced spectra and compare them with those produced experimentally by spectrometry.Tests were conducted on MOSFETs and MOS capacitors under three conditions: irradiation with Co-60, X-rays with an aluminum filter, and X-rays with both aluminum and lead filters. For all components, two irradiation configurations were used: one with all leads grounded and the other polarized at 1 MV/cm to limit the initial recombination phenomenon.Generic MOSFETs were selected and revealed discrepancies between the different irradiation conditions. The condition with only Al-filtered X-rays showed a deviation from the degradation observed with Co-60 (the reference). The results indicate that the use of high-energy photons with a lead filter brings the observed degradations closer to those obtained with Co-60.The impact of the metallization of MOS capacitors (aluminum vs. gold) on dose deposition and the dose enhancement phenomenon was studied. The results show that degradation is generally homogeneous across different irradiation conditions with aluminum metallization (low atomic number). In contrast, gold-metallized capacitors exhibit significantly higher degradation under X-ray irradiation, but this is reduced with a lead filter.In conclusion, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of high-energy filtered X-ray generators for TID testing, highlighting the importance of using suitable filters and high voltages to achieve dose responses similar to those provided by Co-60.