[fennecfoxen]

> Soft errors occur when the data in an electronic device is corrupted after neutrons, produced when cosmic rays hit oxygen and nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere, collide with the semiconductors within the equipment.

Uhhhhhhh. Neutrons? Doubt goes here. I was pretty sure charged particles and ionizing radiation are to blame for messing up your electronics.

[zaarn]

Neutron radiation is in fact ionizing radiation.

It is much more dangerous than other types, as it readily passes most materials, yet dosage is absorbed. Absorbed neutrons cause particles to (almost always) become radioactive, which causes havoc as those new radioactive particles decay.

The other common types of radiation (alpha, beta and gamma) do not cause things to become radioactive (usually), instead they are a threat if the actually radioactive material accumulates as dust on your skin (for example).

Neutron radiation is much more dangerous because it seeds radioactivity deep in the body, so you can't clean it off by washing or waiting for the absorbed particles to be flushed back out of the body naturally within a few days.

[yummypaint]

One of the ways high energy neutrons interact is by scattering protons elastically. Their masses are essentially the same so the neutron can transfer its momentum very efficiently. These scattered protons (perhaps from plastic in the packaging etc) are then the charged particles that flip bits. These protons are generally lower energy than cosmic ray protons, which means they deposit MORE energy per distance traveled, so they can be worse than cosmics directly.

[fennecs]

Supposedly yes neutrons [0 they give a link under causes]. I guess neutrons are more penetrating than protons, can pass through chips/buildings etc more easily, and even though weak interaction, it ends up more significant contribution than protons etc that interact more easily.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_error