Rad-Hard 17-bit ADCs

We will develop 3 rad-hard 17-bit (0.2, 25, and 125 MSPS) Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) that share a common architecture. In Phase II we will design and fabricate the 125 MSPS ADC. Design, fabrication, and testing of all three ADCs will be completed in Phase III. The parts will be fabricated using Texas Instruments' BiCom3X, a SOI process with CMOS and complementary SiGe bipolar transistors. SiGe bipolar transistors typically have very high total dose hardness, and we are not aware of an ELDRS problem. The SOI wells prevent latch-up and restrict the silicon volume that can produce photocurrents from either ionizing dose rates or single event strikes. Our designers, Bill Poland, Jim Swonger, Wayne Dietrich, and John Branning, have designed over 140 ASICs, many of them rad-hard. They worked together on a 14-bit rad-hard ADC, on which the proposed part is based. Nu-Trek is an emerging suppler of rad-hard parts, with four parts coming on sale in 2008. The Nu-Det has already been inserted into the MKV and NGIMU. The Clam/NED is slated for insertion in the Army's FCS. Endorsed by Northrop Grumman (STSS), Honeywell, Ball Aerospace, Kearfott, and Draper.