Design and Fabrication of Novel Radiation Immune Vacuum Microelectronic Devices and Circuits

An opportunity exists to design and fabricate microelectronic components that are inherently radiation hardened and require no radiation protection methods. International FemtoScience (FemtoSci) proposes a practical solution to produce Inherently Radiation Hardened Microelectronic Components by employing diamond emitter vacuum device technology. These components have demonstrated that diamond emission diodes and transistors will operate unaffected, with no change in their performance, to extremely high radiation levels and at temperatures greater than 400 C. This is not possible with a band gap governed solid state device such as silicon-based devices. The proposed device technology is completely insensitive to all levels and all types of natural space and nuclear radiation and therefore requires no radiation protection methods. Designing, fabricating, and testing the individual proof-of-principle prototype diamond vacuum emission devices in Phase I will substantiate their performance and, through analysis, their ability to survive and operate through space and nuclear radiation. The real benefit is when the individual diamond vacuum emission devices are combined and integrated monolithically to form functional radiation immune circuits. The proposed diamond vacuum emission devices are functionally equivalent to transistors and can be used to realize analog circuits such as operational amplifiers and comparators, digital circuits such as logic functions and gate arrays, and even extended to field programmable gate arrays. The technology proposed by FemtoSci in conjunction with our STTR university partner, University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) has the potential for a technology breakthrough for missile system electronic system designs for Space, Microelectronics, and Hypersonic technology areas. Approved for Public Release |21-MDA-10789 (21 Apr 21)