2008/08/01 by James R. Schwank, Marty R. Shaneyfelt, M.R. Shaneyfelt +7 · 2 citations
Engineering · #Integrated Circuits and Semiconductor Failure Analysis #Radiation Effects in Electronics #Semiconductor materials and devices
paper · doi:10.1109/tns.2008.2001040
crossref issued 2008/08/01 · crossref published 2008/08/01 · crossref published-print 2008/08/01 · openalex publication_date 2008/08/01 · crossref created 2008/09/30 · crossref deposited 2022/01/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29
Electronic devices in space environments can contain numerous types of oxides and insulators. Ionizing radiation can induce significant charge buildup in these oxides and insulators leading to device degradation and failure. Electrons and protons in space can lead to radiation-induced total-dose effects. The two primary types of radiation-induced charge are oxide-trapped charge and interface-trap charge. These charges can cause large radiation-induced threshold voltage shifts and increases in leakage currents. Two alternate dielectrics that have been investigated for replacing silicon dioxide are hafnium oxides and reoxidized nitrided oxides (RNO). For advanced technologies, which may employ alternate dielectrics, radiation-induced voltage shifts in these insulators may be negligible. Radiation-induced charge buildup in parasitic field oxides and in SOI buried oxides can also lead to device degradation and failure. Indeed, for advanced commercial technologies, the total-dose hardness of ICs is normally dominated by radiation-induced charge buildup in either parasitic field oxides and/or SOI buried oxides. Heavy ions in space can also degrade the oxides in electronic devices through several different mechanisms including single-event gate rupture, reduction in device lifetime, and large voltage shifts in power MOSFETs.