Combined use of heavy ion and proton test data in the determination of a GaAs Power MESFET critical charge and sensitive depth

A method is proposed that uses the fundamental physical differences between direct and indirect energy deposition processes to obtain accurate values of the sensitive volume (SV) thickness and critical charge of electronic devices. The intention is to calibrate a unified model capable of describing both heavy ion and proton test data through Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and therefore also suitable for performing on-board predictions. The method was applied toavailable test data from a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) power MESFET currently on board the MetOp-A Earth-observation mission, and results were contrasted with the measured on-board time to failure period.