Single-event burnout of power bipolar junction transistors

Experimental evidence of single-event burnout of power bipolar junction transistor (BJTs) is reported for the first time. Several commercial power BJTs were characterized in a simulated cosmic ray environment using mono-energetic ions at the tandem Van de Graaff accelerator facility at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Most of the device types exposed to this simulated environment exhibited burnout behavior. The experimental technique, data, and results are presented, while a qualitative model is used to help explain those results and trends observed in this experiment.>