Analog Single Event Transient susceptibility of an SOI operational amplifier for use in low-temperature radiation environments

The next generations of Martian rovers are to examine the polar regions where temperatures are extremely low and the absence of an earth-like atmosphere results in a plethora of radiation issues including Analogue Single Event Transients. To this end, a radiation-hardened, temperature compensated CMOS Single-On-Insulator operational amplifier was designed and fabricated using Honeywell´s SOI V process. Broad beam heavy-ion tests at the University of Texas A&M were performed to ascertain the duration and severity of any SET´s for low and high gain application. Ambiguity regarding the location of transient formation required the use of an ion microbeam to confirm a region of major concern in the internal bias circuitry.