Radiation Hardness Assurance for Electronic Parts: Accomplishments and Plans

Over the past decade, the following have been developed: improved methods and standards for measuring the radiation response of semiconductor devices; methods for the procurement of semiconductor devices so that their hardness to selected radiation environments is assured; and guidance to contractors for the development, production, and deployment of nuclear-hardened equipment. Some of the specific products developed by the hardness assurance community are American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for electrical tests and radiation dosimetry, guideline documents for device and system hardness assurance, and military handbooks, test standards, and hardness-assured-device specifications. This paper presents a summary of how these radiation hardness assurance developments were achieved; provides an overview of the guidelines, standards, specifications, and handbooks which have been developed; describes the existing, relevant committees and their purposes; outlines the program status; and discusses plans for the hardness assurance program. The most significant accomplishment for the hardness assurance community is the recent adoption of a scheme for military-standard (MIL-STD) specifications for radiation-hardness-assured electronic devices. Under this scheme, the General Specifications, MIL-M-38510 (microcircuits) and MIL-S-19500 (discretes), have been modified to include options for procurement of devices with assured responses to total ionizing dose and to neutron fluence. Soon to be published are detailed specifications for over 400 radiation-hardness-assured semiconductor devices.