Our Users

“ASPINA is developing a lineup of reaction wheels for small satellites. While our reaction wheels are qualified for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) applications, we are also interested in meeting the demands for Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) environments for the larger wheels in our lineup. Typically, satellites that operate in GEO require that no destructive single event effects occur from heavy ions with a linear energy transfer (LET) up to 37 MeV⋅cm²/mg during the lifetime of the mission.

Our reaction wheels contain an integrated driver for motor control, command, and telemetry. Since our intent was primarily to assess the gap between our current parts selection and the requirements of GEO, we wanted to test all the ICs on the front and back of a handful of boards of the same design to generate meaningful statistics without needing a lot of preparation time and beam time.

The very highly penetrating Pb ions used at HEARTS saved us from needing to decapsulate the ICs before testing. That convenience combined with the ability to remotely switch between large and small beam sizes allowed us to use the beam time efficiently while ensuring no IC was irradiated twice. We could target large groups of ICs in one go with the 75×75mm aperture and then switch to smaller 50×50mm or 25×25mm sizes to target tighter groups of ICs nestled amongst other components that we did not want to irradiate.

All that said, the convenience factor that proved to be most beneficial was the 24/7 staffing and maintenance. Our testing effort was an internal collaboration across 3 of our offices - Germany, United States, and Japan. An engineer from each office made the trip to CERN. To return home without meaningful results would have been devastating to say the least. But of course, things do go wrong from time to time when doing science and engineering. It just so happened that there was an issue with the beam integrity during our test run, which meant the beam needed to be shut down for maintenance for up to 12 hours. With 24/7 staffing at HEARTS and maintenance at CERN, however, the beam was back up and running later that same day, and we were able to complete our tests. What’s a more fun way to spend a Friday night than doing high energy particle testing late into the next morning?”

“Mynaric, a manufacturer of laser communication equipment for airborne and spaceborne communication networks, tested critical electronics at CERN’s heavy ion testing facility.

Our team tested modules used in our current products CONDOR Mk3 and CONDOR Mk3.1 as well as a module to be used in our future product. The opportunity to conduct tests at low flux levels was especially important to us, as it reduces the chance of error pile-up and allows us to better assess how our components or modules will perform under long-duration, low-flux radiation exposure. Also, the high energy Pb ions CERN provides have a much longer penetration depth than most other facilities which allowed us to test in atmosphere and without needing to de-lid the devices on the module.

We were able to execute all the tests we had planned, and everything went smoothly — the setup was exactly as expected, and the flux stayed within the expected range. The high energy and long range in Si of the Pb ion has saved lot of testing time as we irradiated our parts in ambient atmosphere. Even though we finished at 04:00 in the morning, we were satisfied with the results. It was a big plus that CERN was able to facilitate extending the testing hours when needed.

We also really appreciated the responsiveness and efficiency of the HEARTS project team in approving our request for test time. Being able to book a slot at a nearby facility made the entire process highly convenient for us.

We believe it’s hugely important to have testing facilities like this here in Europe. Dr. S.R Kulkarni also believes there should be more availability, ‘if Europe and the European Union wants to maintain its position as a leading sponsor and supporter of proliferated spaceborne communication networks, connected by ever more satellites, then more testing capabilities really are needed’. ”

“Our SEE testing campaign at the HEARTS facility was a great success, thanks in large part to the unique capabilities the facility offers and the awesome team at CERN. Their high-energy lead (Pb) beam allowed us to confidently reach the sensitive volumes of all our devices through complex packaging and shielding configurations.

One of the things that really stood out was the flexibility of the beam setup. The ability to adjust beam energy and use degraders gave us precise control over the LETs we were targeting, which was critical for meeting our test goals. It made the process smoother and more effective than we’ve experienced at many other facilities.

Additionally, the training, arrival, and set-up procedure were very well documented and made the process of testing at a new facility for the first time seamless. Given this, we didn’t have any issues using HEARTS for the first time and achieved similar results to other high-energy heavy ion facilities.

Beyond the technical capabilities, the HEARTS team was knowledgeable, responsive, and easy to work with. Their support helped make a demanding test campaign run efficiently. We’re definitely looking forward to working with them again in the future.”

“Our experience with the IRRAD line at CERN was extremely positive! We successfully tested 3D NAND Flash memories with a very-high energy ion beam in the framework of the HEARTS EU project.

Such extremely energetic projectiles are the ideal way to cross the hundreds of layers of 3D integrated devices and they also enabled irradiation at grazing angles, which is not feasible with lower energy particles.

We also had a PIPS diode in the beam line to accurately measure energy deposition events in a standard device already used in several other irradiation facilities across the world.”

“We tested processing units and microcontrollers for the Nyx capsule. In terms of how they benefit our activities, I would say that qualifying these devices was crucial in confirming the defined avionics architecture. The beam type you need to pick depends on the radiation requirements that must be complied with and then the package complexity whether it is convenient to use high energy over low energy.

Flip-chip devices have a very small form factor, so it is easy to build very high-throughput computing systems in a small board with them and save mass and space. To test flip-chips it is ideal to have a few mm penetration because sometimes the package is 0.5 mm of copper and other times you just have chips stacked on top of each other inside the package that you can’t really test anywhere else because you can’t thin them down.

Given the number of flip-chips used in our designs, we have been actively seeking any possible opportunity to test with high-energy ions.”