Electronic Reliability Analysis under Radiation Environment

Advances in semiconductor technology have enhanced the functionality of sensor arrays with
reduced feature sizes. Owing to the spread of the Internet of Things, sensors can now be found
in many applications operating in various environments. Proton and neutron radiation are always
present around us but have not been detrimental to electronics at sea level. With the decreasing
size of transistors and sensor elements and the increasing density of transistors in ICs of sensors
and actuators, the effect of radiation on the reliability of semiconductor devices, sensors, and
their electronic circuits (collectively called sensing systems) is no longer negligible, even at sea
level. However, the knowledge of radiation physics and that of semiconductor physics are very
different, and merging of the two sets of knowledge is necessary to evaluate the effect of
radiation on the reliability of sensing systems. In this work, we summarize the extensive studies
of the effects of radiation on semiconductor devices from space and avionics investigations, and
we apply their results to study the radiation reliability of sensing systems in standard industry
applications. In this work, we also illustrate how one can perform radiation reliability analysis
for electronics in a proximity sensor, which we investigated by performing radiation experiments.

 

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