Radiation Hard Electronic Components (DSP)

Silicon Space Technology (SST), working with Texas Instruments (TI), proposes to demonstrate an innovative approach for converting a high-performance COTS DSP circuit (radiation-soft) to a radiation-hardened circuit by integrating two new process modules into the commercial process. Silicon Space has solved the major space radiation problems, Single-Event Effects (SEE) and Total Ionizing Dose (TID), by combining process modifications and layout design innovation. Our proven-in-silicon approach enables production of radiation-hardened integrated circuits at leading-edge circuit densities within any commercial silicon foundry, for use in both terrestrial and space systems. A sequence of radiation tests have shown SST’s Buried Guard Ring (BGR) innovation significantly improves SEE performance (e.g., SEL, SET, & SEU). BGR also significantly improves dose rate performance by >1.5 orders of magnitude higher than non-BGR protected circuits. SST’s Parasitic Isolation Device (PID) structures have shown complete TID immunity to > 1Mrad. These methods do not adversely affect either circuit performance or yield. SST will demonstrate a procedure for integrating BGR and PID into an existing TI commercial DSP product. This Phase I effort, when demonstrated in Phase II silicon experiments, will enable manufacture of radiation-hardened DSP’s which exceed MDA’s required levels of radiation performance.