Abstract :
For space or nuclear plant applications, radiation tolerant high performance CMOS VLSI circuit designs, utilising scaled CMOS/SOS technology and scaled bulk CMOS technology, have been reviewed, placing strong emphasis on total dose radiation hardness. Based on radiation induced degradations for conventional CMOS circuits, such as inverters, ring oscillators and memory circuits, total dose radiation hardening technologies have been discussed. It is shown that low temperature process and thin oxide introductions are effective for radiation induced threshold voltage shift reduction. In addition to device/process technologies for total dose radiation hardening, usefulness for NAND logics and static circuits in radiation tolerant CMOS VLSI designs, are shown. Latchup immunity and SEU immunity have also been discussed, for both SOS and bulk devices. CMOS/SOS radiation hardened VLSIs and bulk CMOS radiation hardened VLSIs which have been developed by utilising above mentioned technologies, are reported
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; VLSI; circuit reliability; integrated circuit technology; radiation hardening (electronics); CMOS VLSI circuit designs; NAND logics; SEU immunity; bulk devices; latchup immunity; low temperature process; radiation hardening; radiation induced degradations; radiation tolerant designs; scaled CMOS/SOS technology; scaled bulk CMOS technology; single event upset; static circuits; thin oxide; threshold voltage shift reduction; total dose;