Characterise the radiation performance of Ultra-Deep Submicron Technologies and define the necessary radiation mitigation techniques

 

There is a growing request coming from next generation telecom payloads for a major increase of on-board payload flexibility, processing capabilities and large data volumes. Ultra Deep Submicron technology (UDSM) is a key to achieve those needs at affordable cost, while ensuring compatibility with satellite platform mass/power constraints. In this context, Ultra Thin Body and BOX Fully-depleted Silicon-On-Insulator (UTBB-FD-SOI) technology appears as a particularly suitable solution demonstrating excellent Performance/Power/Area trade-off. For space environment, SOI technology has already demonstrated its ability to mitigate Single-Event Effects (SEE). The additional back-gate terminal under the Buried-Oxide of UTBB-FD-SOI also opens new design opportunities to mitigate radiation effects. Finfets technology is another attractive solution for Ultra Deep Submicron downscaling. However, suitability of finfets for space still needs to be assessed.

 

The proposed activity aims at making a preliminary assessment of advanced UDSM technologies such as 22nm node or below. The scope of the activity shall address the points below:

 

?Irradiation characterization of the chosen UDSM technology.

? Evaluation SEU and SET effects

? Study and evaluation of design mitigation techniques against SEU/SET for basic blocks: Memories (SRAM), Flip-Flops, buffers etc?

? Evaluation of TID effects

? Study and evaluation of TID mitigation techniques (e.g. Back-biasing)

? Evaluation of TCAD simulation methodologies to assess SEE effects