Space Radiation Effects

in Electronic Components.
Len Adams
Professor Associate, Brunel Univ.
Consultant to Spur Electron.
For: PA and Safety Office.
May 2003
 Space Radiation Effects in
Electronic Components
Structure of Presentation
1. Space radiation environment
2. Radiation effects in electronic components.
3. Radiation testing
4. Use of commercial components
5. Guide to comrad-uk resource
6. Open discussion
 Space Radiation Environment
Overview
„ Complex and Dynamic

„ Trapped Radiation – ‘Belts’ of energetic electrons

and protons

„ Cosmic Rays (Energetic Ions)

„ Solar Event protons

 Space Radiation Environment
Trapped Radiation
„ Electrons and Protons are trapped in the
Earths magnetic field, forming the ‘Van
Allen’ belts.

„ Electrons up to 7 MeV

„ Protons up to a few hundred MeV.

Electron Belts
Proton Belts
 Space Radiation Environment
Transiting Radiation

„ Very high energy Galactic Cosmic Rays

originating from outside the solar system

„ Solar Events. (X-rays, protons and heavy

ions)
 Space Radiation Environment
Galactic Cosmic Rays
„ 85% Protons, 14% Alpha particles, 1%
Heavy Nuclei.
„ Energies up to GeV
„ Expressed in terms of Linear Energy
Transfer (LET) for radiation effects
purposes
 Space Radiation Environment
Solar Flares

„ Occur mostly near first and last year of

solar maximum

„ Solar Events, composed mainly of protons

with minor constituent of alpha particles,
heavy ions and electrons
 Space Radiation Environment
South Atlantic Anomaly
„ Distortion of the earth’s magnetic field
allows the proton belts to extend to very
low altitudes in the region of South America

„ Low Earth Orbiting satellites will be

exposed to high energy protons in this
region
Space Station. 1 year dose-depth curve.
Space Station . Non-Ionizing Energy Loss spectrum.
Space Station. Orbit averaged LET spectra
Space Station. Proton flux as a function of orbital time.
Radiation Effects in Components
(1) IONIZATION
Mechanism : Charge generation, trapping and
build-up in insulating layers.

Due to: Electrons, Protons.

Main Effects: Parameter drift. Increased

leakage currents. Loss of noise immunity.
Eventual functional failure
Radiation Effects in Components
(2) DISPLACEMENT
DAMAGE
Mechanism: Disruption of crystal lattice

Due to: Protons

Main Effects: Reduced gain, increased ‘ON’

resistance, reduced LED output, reduced
charge transfer efficiency in CCDs.
Radiation Effects in Components
(3) SINGLE EVENT
Mechanism: Dense path of localised
ionization from a single particle ‘hit’

Due to: Cosmic rays, high energy protons.

Main Effects: Transient current pulses, variety

of transient and permanent ‘Single Event
Effects’
Single Event Current Pulse
SEU Mechanism in CMOS bistable
Radiation Effects in Components
(4) Single Event Effects in detail
Latch-up. Permanent, potentially destructive
Bit flips (‘Single Event Upset’) in bistables
High Anomalous Current (HAC), ‘snap-back’
Heavy Ion Induced Burn-out in power MOS
Single Event Gate Rupture (SEGR)
Single Event Transient, noise pulses, false outputs
‘Soft Latch’ (device or system ‘lock up’)
Typical Single Event Transient Requirements.

„ Output voltage swing of rail voltage to

ground and ground to rail voltage.
„ Duration:
15 microseconds for Op-Amps.
10 microseconds for comparators, voltage
regulators and voltage references.
100 nanoseconds for opto-couplers.
 Radiation Testing
Specifications and Standards
„ Total Ionizing Dose:
SCC-22900 (ESA-SCC)
Mil Std 883E Method 1019.6 (DESC)
ASTM F1892 (includes ELDRS)
„ Single Event:
SCC-29500 (ESA-SCC)
EIA/JEDEC Standard EIA/JESD57
ASTM F1192
 Radiation Testing
Important Considerations
„ Choice of radiation source.
„ Specifications and Standards
„ Worst case or application bias
„ Test software
„ Number of samples
„ Traceability
„ Databasing
 Radiation Testing
Choice of Source
Total Ionizing Dose: Co-60 gamma or
1-3 MeV electrons (Linac or VdG)

Displacement Damage: Protons (10-20 MeV),

Neutrons (1 MeV), Electrons (3-5 MeV)

Single Event: Heavy Ion Accelerator (ESA-

Louvain HIF), Proton Accelerator (ESA-PSI PIF)
Cf-252 ‘CASE’ laboratory system.
Typical Radiation Verification (RVT) requirements.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT DOSE RATE

Bipolar Transistor Data > 10 yrs High or Low

MOS Transistor All diffusion lots High or Low

Linear ICs All diffusion lots Low

MOS Digital ICs Data > 1 yr High or Low
Bipolar Digital ICs Data > 10 yrs Low
ASICs, FPGA. Data > 2 yrs Low
MOS RAM, ROM Data > 2 yrs High or Low
Bipolar RAM, ROM Data > 6 yrs Low
Optoelectronics All diffusion lots High or Low
 Technologies generally considered to be
radiation tolerant (~ 300 krad)
„ Diodes (other than zener).
„ TTL logic (e.g. 54xx series).
„ ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic).
„ GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) technologies.
„ Microwave devices.
„ Crystals.
„ Most passives.
 Radiation Testing
Sample Size/Traceability
Sample Size:
Total Ionizing Dose. Minimum 5 samples.
4 test, 1 reference.
Single Event. 3 samples recommended.
Traceability:
Use single Lot-Date-Code for test and flight
hardware.
 Dose-rates for testing.
- High Dose Rate:
SCC 22900 Window 1. 1-10 rads/sec.
MIL883E 1019.6. 50-300 rads/sec.

- Low Dose Rate:

SCC 22900 Window 2. 0.01-0.1 rads/sec.
MIL883E 1019.6. 0.01 rads/sec.
Elevated Temp. 0.5-5 rads/sec.
 Radiation Testing
Test Software (Single Event)
„ Test pattern dependence. All 1, All 0,
Alternate 1-0, Chequerboard, MOVI.
„ Different sensitivities for different registers.
„ Dead Time. (detect flip/record/rewrite)
„ How to test Processors (‘Golden Chip’ ?)
„ Possibility to run application software ?
Beware of software/hardware interaction.
 Radiation Testing
And finally……

TEST IT LIKE YOU FLY IT

FLY IT LIKE YOU TEST IT

(Ken LaBel. GSFC)

Use of Commercial Components
„ The use of commercial technology does
NOT necessarily result in cost-saving.

„ Cost of Ownership is the important

consideration.

„ First choice should always be QML or

Space Quality components if available.
 Why Use Commercial
Technology ?
„ Complexity of functions

„ Performance

„ Availability (limited number of QML/Space

suppliers).
 What are the drawbacks of
commercial technology?
„ Little or no traceability
„ Rapid and unannounced design and process
changes.
„ Rapid obsolescence
„ Packaging Issues (Plastic).
- Effect of burn-in on radiation response
- Deep dielectric charging in space (?)
 COTS Hardness Assurance
„ Define the hazard
„ Evaluate the hazard
„ Define requirements
„ Evaluate device usage
„ Discuss with designers
„ Iterate process as necessary
 Risk Assessment & Mitigation
„ Components list review by a radiation expert
„ Good Radiation Design Margin (2-5)
„ Fully characterise key components
„ Limit the use of new technologies
„ Eliminate or shield marginal technologies
„ Maintain awareness of developments in radiation
effects
„ Do not cut back on testing
„ Look for system solutions
 Countermeasures/Mitigation
Total Ionizing Dose.
„ Additional shielding. Only effective in electron dominated
environments.

„ Cold redundancy (‘sparing’). Not effective for all

technologies.

„ Generous derating.

„ Robust electronic design. High drive currents, low fan-out

or loading. Large gain margins, high noise immunity etc.
 Countermeasures/Mitigation.
Single Event Effects
„ Note that additional shielding is NOT effective.

„ Ensure systems are not sensitive to transient effects.

„ Use fault tolerant design techniques.

„ Use Error Detection and Correction for critical circuits.

„ Ensure systems can re-boot autonomously.

 COMRAD-UK
An integrated Web resource of
components radiation effects
data.
Why Integrated Web Resource ?
„ COMRAD provides more than a database.
it includes :
Components radiation effects database.
A tutorial handbook.
Links to radiation effects sites.
Links to manufacturers sites.
Links to publications in .pdf format.
‘Experts Forum’ for technical discussions.
Available from COMRAD-UK
Home Page
Terms Links Glossary

Index Search Total Dose

Heavy Ion Neutron Proton

Sponsors Manufacturers Seminars

Handbook Publications Experts Forum

& News
 Welcome to COMRAD
This web site is the primary source of information on the internet for

COMponent RADiation data.

Please feel free to browse and review the information contained herein.
This site was designed and built by:

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 Origins of COMRAD-UK
Database

„ ESA RADFX (on discs)

„ Database Round Table (RADECS 1993)
„ Discussions with Space Agencies, Scientific
Institutes and Industry
„ Discussions with CERN LHC Project and
Detector groups.
Aims of COMRAD-UK Database
„ To be ‘informative’ not ‘regulatory’.
„ To contain recent data and be continuously
updated.
„ To provide data summary and detailed tabulated
data (if available).
„ To provide contact details for the test authority.
„ To be expandable for High-Energy Physics and
Avionics
COMRAD-UK Database status.
„ 700 Total Dose records
„ 280 Single Event Records
„ Being updated on a monthly basis
„ Primary data resources:
IEEE NSREC Data Workshop and Proceedings
RADECS Data Workshop and Proceedings
ESA Contract Reports.
IEEE Publications.
CERN reports and publications
 Origins of COMRAD-UK
Handbook
„ ESA Radiation Design Handbook. PSS-609
„ Handbook of Radiation Effects. OUP 1993.
„ The use of commercial components in aerospace
technology. BNSC Contract Report 1999.
„ Participation in CERN RD-49 collaboration.
‘Hardened microelectronics and commercial
components’.
„ Various international seminars and workshops
over past 5 years.
 Aims of COMRAD-UK
Handbook
„ A brief (100 page) tutorial guide to the space
application of components.
„ To assist in the assessment of components in the
COMRAD database for any particular mission.
„ Provides guidance on Hardness Assurance
practices.
„ Discusses the application of commercial
components.
 Handbook Contents
„ The Space Radiation Environment
„ Radiation Effects Prediction Techniques
„ Radiation Effects in Electronic Components
„ Designing Tolerant Systems
„ Radiation Effects Databases
„ Radiation Testing
„ Hardness Assurance Management
„ Recommended Procurement Practices
 COMRAD-UK
Experts Forum

The Experts Forum allows users to post

queries on the Web-site.
These will, as far as possible, be answered
by Spur Electron but it is also possible for
other users to provide an input and start a
discussion.
 Summary
„ COMRAD-UK is a Web based integrated source
of components radiation effects data.
„ COMRAD-UK is co-sponsored by the British
National Space Centre and maintained on their
behalf by SPUR-Electron.
„ The site is under continuous development
„ - comments and suggestions are welcome.
– comrad-uk.net
– radinfo@spurelectron.com
Hardness Assurance in the real
world
WE HAVEN’T GOT THE MONEY
SO WE’VE GOT TO THINK.
(Lord Rutherford 1871-1937)