Breakdown behavior of electronics at variable pulse repetition rates

Abstract. The breakdown behavior of electronics exposed to single transient electromagnetic pulses is subject of investigations for several years. State-of-the-art pulse generators additionally provide the possibility to generate pulse sequences with variable pulse repetition rate. In this article the influence of this repetition rate variation on the breakdown behavior of electronic systems is described. For this purpose microcontroller systems are examined during line-led exposure to pulses with repetition rates between 1 KHz and 100 KHz. Special attention is given to breakdown thresholds and breakdown probabilities of the electronic devices.