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Abstract
The radiation tolerance of subthreshold reference circuits for space microelectronics is presented. The assessment is supported by measured results of total ionization dose and single event transient radiation-induced effects under γ -rays, X-rays, protons and heavy ions (silicon, krypton and xenon). A high total irradiation dose with different radiation sources was used to evaluate the proposed topologies for a wide range of applications operating in harsh environments similar to the space environment. The proposed custom designed integrated circuits (IC) circuits utilize only CMOS transistors, operating in the subthreshold regime, and poly-silicon resistors without using any external components such as compensation capacitors. The circuits are radiation hardened by design (RHBD) and they were fabricated using TowerJazz Semiconductor’s 0.18 μm standard CMOS technology. The proposed voltage references are shown to be suitable for high-precision and low-power space applications. It is demonstrated that radiation hardened microelectronics operating in subthreshold regime are promising candidates for significantly reducing the size and cost of space missions due to reduced energy requirements.
Highlights
Radiation-tolerant, high-accuracy, reference circuits are widely used in almost all circuits and systems that are intended for space applications
Designers can utilize well-known radiation hardening by design (RHBD) techniques, such as enclosed layout geometry transistors, it is not trivial to maintain good performance, when MOS transistors are biased in subthreshold
Radiation-induced effects can be generally categorized into three kinds of radiation effects; those where the total ionization dose (TID) affects the devices properties, those where high-energy particles induce single event transients (SET) or device failures by dumping relatively large charges on critical nodes and those where the energetic particles cause displacement damage (DD) of the atomic lattice
Summary
Radiation-tolerant, high-accuracy, reference circuits are widely used in almost all circuits and systems that are intended for space applications. When the supply voltage and power consumption specifications are very aggressive, the design has to operate within the subthreshold region, in which the non-linearities of the CMOS current components increase. In this region increased mismatch and process variations can be an issue. Designers can utilize well-known radiation hardening by design (RHBD) techniques, such as enclosed layout geometry transistors, it is not trivial to maintain good performance, when MOS transistors are biased in subthreshold In this operating region, the transistor’s drain-current is exponentially dependent on threshold voltage, any deviations of the threshold voltage will severely impact the circuit’s performance. The TC and TID performance are evaluated through fabricated silicon and experimental accelerated characterization results
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