Study of Advanced Technologies for Strategic Radiation Hardened Electronics
Abstract
Electronic components within strategic systems are required to operate within and survive harsh radiation environments that exceed or have additional environmental requirements compared to many space-based electronic components. In addition to hardening electronics to single-event effects (SEE) and total ionizing dose (TID), electronic parts in a strategic system must also be hardened to the prompt delivery of high intensity ionizing radiation. Radiation-hardened analog/mixed-signal and digital parts for space-based application may be found through trusted supply chains, however these parts often lag the commercial state-of-the-art in performance, power, and size. Additionally, these radiation-hardened parts are not characterized for operation and survival in strategic systems radiation environments. Strategic radiation-hardened parts are very uncommon and typically lag behind both the space hardened parts and the commercial state-of-the-art. ISDE proposes to develop the techniques to model and simulate strategic environment radiation effects in advanced technologies and study the efficacy of applying radiation-hardening by design techniques, known techniques from prior RHBD programs and the development of new techniques, across multiple technology nodes. The effectiveness of the RHBD techniques in a strategic environment will be assessed through a combination of 3D TCAD device-level and SPICE-level modeling and simulation analysis. Trusted foundry technologies to be studied include 180 nm bulk and partially-depleted SOI, 90 nm bulk, and 45/32 nm partially-depleted SOI, where the 180 nm technologies are suitable for both analog and digital applications while the 90 nm and 45/32 nm technologies are primarily utilized for digital applications. However, recent developments in the 45 nm PDSOI technology have targeted RF capabilities. ISDE also has access to highly scaled commercial technology process design kits for 22 nm fully depleted SOI and 14 nm bulk FinFET technologies for calibration of the advanced technology electrical device behavior. The effects of prompt dose rate on common topologies for input-output (I/O) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuits will be assessed through SPICE-level modeling. System level impacts of the strategic environment response, due to integrated circuit technology selection, will also be studied through the estimation of chip-level photocurrent and assessment of power delivery architectures. The primary innovation of this program is the development of a hierarchical framework, from transistor through board-level, for efficient evaluation of prompt dose-rate response in support of DoD Strategic Weapons systems. This will include a modular approach to rapidly implementing RHBD variants for simulation in TCAD/SPICE across technology nodes of interest. This approach will provide baseline prompt dose-rate photocurrent estimates that will be used to estimate chip and I/O level current draw, and compare geometrical reductions vs. increased device packing density. Analysis will include I/O vulnerabilities and ESD cell response. The culmination of this activity will be to analyze the impact of dense advanced technology IC’s on board-level performance. This methodology will provide the DoD with a state-of-the-art capability for screening RHBD techniques in key trusted technologies and selected commercial technologies of interest for potential deployment in strategic systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 2019
- Source ID
- N001641910014
Entities
People
- Dennis R. Ball
Organizations
- Naval Surface Warfare Center
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Vanderbilt University