Anti-Radiation Reinforcement Design and Evaluation Methods of High-Performance A/D Converter for Aerospace

This paper has introduced an anti-radiation reinforcement method of high-performance A/D converter for space application, on the basis of the radiation damage mechanism and the effect on aerospace electronic systems. Edgeless transistor technology is used to suppress edge leakage current caused by irradiation, thereby improving the device's ability to resist the total ionizing dose effect. On the other hand, additional substrate contact holes are introduced in the layout of key devices to clamp and resist the single event latch-up effect (SEL). And the three-mode redundancy design is introduced to resist the single-event upset (SEU). Total ionization dose (TID) effect and single event effect (SEE) tests based on gamma-ray and heavy ion are carried out on a 14bit, 40MSPS A/D converter hardened using the proposed reinforcement method, which demonstrates better anti-irradiation properties. The Single-Event Transient (SET) effect and Single-Event Upset (SEU) effect in AD converters are defined, and evaluation methods for various effects are provided.