Characterization and Mitigation of Radiation Effects in High-Speed Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics

For ultra high-speed, ultra low-power applications in DoD space and weapons systems, devices and circuits fabricated from III–V semiconductor compounds offer significant advantages over silicon-based technology. However, the uncertainty in single-event-effect (SEE) response of compound semiconductor technologies forces the use of empirically-based hardening techniques with penalties in increased power, area, and weight. To enable better characterization and mitigation of SEEs in modern III-V technologies, CFDRC, in collaboration with Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), proposes the following innovations: (a) Accurate and cost-effective modeling of radiation effects in advanced, including latest antimonide-based, high-speed III-V devices and circuits, enabled by significant innovative technology additions to CFDRC’s NanoTCAD 3D/mixed-mode simulator; (b) New, more precise, charge generation models to complement the latest laser-based experimental techniques; (c) Simulation-supported design and validation of minimally-invasive mitigation techniques for SEEs. In Phase I, selected III-V devices (HEMT and HBT) were used to demonstrate applicability of the CFDRC tools to characterization of SEEs. In Phase II, the simulation efficiency and accuracy will be improved by advancing numerical methods and physics models, and the modeling will be validated against heavy-ion and pulsed-laser experiments. SEE mitigation methods for latest and future III-V devices and circuits will be numerically explored, verified, and demonstrated.