Title :
Charge Yield at Low Electric Fields: Considerations for Bipolar Integrated Circuits
Author :
Johnston, A.H. ; Swimm, R.T. ; Thorbourn, D.O.
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
A significant reduction in total dose damage is observed when bipolar integrated circuits are irradiated at low temperature. This can be partially explained by the Onsager theory of recombination, which predicts a strong temperature dependence for charge yield under low-field conditions. Reduced damage occurs for biased as well as unbiased devices because the weak fringing field in thick bipolar oxides only affects charge yield near the Si/SiO2 interface, a relatively small fraction of the total oxide thickness. Lowering the temperature of bipolar ICs-either continuously, or for time periods when they are exposed to high radiation levels-provides an additional degree of freedom to improve total dose performance of bipolar circuits, particularly in space applications.
Keywords :
bipolar integrated circuits; electric fields; elemental semiconductors; radiation hardening (electronics); silicon; silicon compounds; Onsager theory of recombination; Si-SiO2; bipolar ICs; bipolar integrated circuits; charge yield; degree of freedom; high radiation levels; low electric fields; low-field conditions; strong temperature dependence; total dose damage reduction; total dose performance; total oxide thickness; unbiased devices; Annealing; Bipolar integrated circuits; Ionizing radiation; Radiation effects; Temperature dependence; Temperature measurement; Transistors; Bipolar integrated circuit; ionizing radiation; radiation effects; recombination;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TNS.2013.2283515
