A SiC-based Microcontroller for High-Temperature In-Situ Instruments and Systems

NASA has a need for electronics that can support proposed flagship missions such as a Venus surface lander. Devices that can operate at temperatures of up to 500?C are desired. Ozark IC and its partner, the University of Arkansas, have created the world's largest known library of CMOS silicon-carbide (SiC) analog and mixed-signal circuits, intellectual property (IP) and packages that can operate at very high temperatures. The key next component is a general-purpose SiC microcontroller to provide real-time programmability for these SiC support circuits. This Phase I proposal will use the extensive Ozark IC SiC library to develop a self-contained general-purpose SiC-CMOS microcontroller. When combined with data converters, gate drivers and other analog/mixed-signal circuitry, this microcontroller could serve in any number of high-temperature sample acquirement and analysis instruments.