Development of cosmic ray hardened power MOSFETs

Conference · Thu Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1989 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA)

OSTI ID:6948386

Titus, J L ^[1]; Jamiolkowski, L S; Wheatley, C F ^[2]

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1. Naval Weapons Support Center, Advanced Technology Div., Crane, IN (US)
2. Harris Semiconductor, Mountaintop, PA (US)

Developmental power DMOS (double-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor) FETs (field effect transistors) were characterized in a simulated cosmic ray environment using heavy ions at the Brookhaven National Laboratory's tandem Van de Graaff accelerator facility. The primary failure mode encountered on FETS in this environment was susceptibility to single event burnout. Burnout of the power DMOS FET was catastrophic. Another failure mode was single event gate rupture. Although gate rupture is not as severe as burnout, its long-term effects are not known. Single event gate rupture causes performance degradation due to increased gate leakage current. An increase in current can pose serious problems to applications that cannot compensate for the added performance degradation. Long-term reliability of the gate oxide may be affected resulting in premature device failure. Each failure mode is discussed. Numerous processing lots were fabricated to experimentally verify that each failure mode could be successfully minimized. Test results show that an n-channel, 150-volt DMOS FET was fabricated that survived exposures to ions with LETs up to 80 MeV-cm{sup 2}/mg. Hardening approaches are discussed, including the advantages and disadvantages of each approach on the FETs performance.

• OSTI ID: 6948386
• Report Number(s): CONF-890723--; CNN: N00164-86-C-0182
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA), Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (USA) Vol. 36:6; ISSN 0018-9499; ISSN IETNA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440200* -- Radiation Effects on Instrument Components
Instruments
or Electronic Systems
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATORS
BNL
CHARGED PARTICLES
COSMIC RADIATION
CURRENTS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTROSTATIC ACCELERATORS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS
HARDENING
HEAVY IONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
IONS
LEAKAGE CURRENT
LET
MATERIALS
MOS TRANSISTORS
MOSFET
N-TYPE CONDUCTORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PERFORMANCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION HARDENING
RADIATIONS
RELIABILITY
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SIMULATION
TEST FACILITIES
TRANSISTORS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VAN DE GRAAFF ACCELERATORS