Ballistic Missile System Innovative Radiation Hardened/Tolerant Electronics Products

Military systems are increasingly reliant on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics because of their performance advantages, availability and cost. Use of COTS in space-based systems exposes them to the natural radiation environments and potentiallyto nuclear-weapon-generated radiation environments. Approaches to achieving total-dose tolerance in commercial electronics often include specialized encapsulation techniques to provide radiation spot-shielding. Data for on-orbit performance ofspot-shielded COTS on the MPTB satellite have shown that devices that are more heavily shielded exhibit more leakage current than similar unshielded devices. These unexpected results indicate that spot shields on ICs in space need to be used carefully andwith understanding of the intended orbital environments and the interaction of the environment with the shields. This project will explore the issues concerning the MPTB dose anomaly and will develop the mechanisms understanding needed to successfullyapply spot-shielding as one of the approaches for getting reliable electronics into space. The significance of this issue is that without complete and validated understanding of all the mechanisms involved in the effectiveness of spot-shielding on ICperformance in orbital environments, one of the major approaches that space-based system designers rely upon will be clouded with uncertainty. The goal of this project will develop and validate the required basic mechanisms understanding for the use ofradiation spot-shielding. This will benefit military space systems, as well as commercial systems, by increasing the effectiveness of radiation tolerant system designs using COTS microelectronics. The potential commercial application of this technologyis development and marketing of more effective radiation shielded packages for COTS electronics for use in the space environment.