Manufacturing Technology for Radiation Hardened/Tolerant Systems

Existing nonvolatile semiconductor memory, such as Flash memory, is system life-limiting because of its softness to radiation exposure. Because commercial wafer fabrication processes change, the radiation hardness fluctuates uncontrollably. The objective of this SBIR proposal is to demonstrate that a non-destructive read-out (NDRO) ferroelectric memory with radiation hardened CMOS circuitry that is hardened-by-design can provide a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that that does not limit the life of MDA military and space systems. The NDRO ferroelectric memory is projected to have high levels of radiation hardness to both total ionizing dose and single event upset. In addition to high levels of radiation hardness, the characteristics of this memory are anticipated to be fast write and read data speeds, low power, and high endurance. The approach of this Phase I program is to characterize a discrete implementation of the memory cell and perform additional design and performance simulations to determine the feasibility of using this memory for radiation hardened MDA systems. Based on demonstration of the feasibility, the design, fabrication and characterization of a prototype NDRO ferroelectric memory is proposed for Phase II. Phase III proposes to work with a partner corporation to commercialize the technology to produce products for MDA requirements.