Enhanced low-dose-rate sensitivity of a low-dropout voltage regulator

Author

Pease, Ronald L. ; McClure, Steve ; Gorelick, Jerry ; Witczak, Steven C.

Author_Institution

RLP Res., Albuquerque, NM, USA

Volume

45

Issue

6

fYear

1998

fDate

12/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2571

Lastpage

2576

Abstract

Ionization-induced degradation of the 29372 low-dropout voltage regulator is most severe at low-dose-rate (~10 mrad(SiO₂)/s) and zero load current. The most sensitive parameter is the maximum output drive current, which is a function of the gain of the large lateral pnp output transistor. Significant degradation of this parameter occurs at 5-10 krad(SiO₂) at low-dose-rate. A moderate load current (~250 mA) during irradiation significantly mitigates the damage. The mitigation of the damage is proportional to irradiation load current and is not a strong function of irradiation temperature or input voltage. The mechanism for the mitigation of damage appears to be current density dependent passivation of interface and/or border traps by mobile hydrogen-related species. The worst-case space system application is in unbiased spares

Keywords

bipolar analogue integrated circuits; gamma-ray effects; voltage regulators; 250 mA; 29372 low-dropout voltage regulator; 5 to 10 krad; bipolar linear microcircuit; border traps; current density; damage; drive current; enhanced low-dose-rate sensitivity; gain; hydrogen passivation; interface traps; ionization-induced degradation; lateral pnp transistor; load current; space system; Annealing; Circuits; Degradation; Electron traps; Logic; Regulators; Space charge; Space technology; Temperature; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.736499

Filename

736499