Publications

Design of digital circuits using inverse-mode cascode SiGe HBTs for single event upset mitigation

Thrivikraman, Tushar K.; Wilcox, Edward; Phillips, Stanley D.; Cressler, John D.; Marshall, Cheryl; Vizkelethy, Gyorgy; Dodd, Paul E.; Marshall, Paul

We report on the design and measured results of a new SiGe HBT radiation hardening by design technique called the inverse-mode cascode (IMC). A third-generation SiGe HBT IMC device was tested in a time resolved ion beam induced charge collection (TRIBICC) system, and was found to have over a 75% reduction in peak current transients with the use of an n-Tiedown on the IMC sub-collector node. Digital shift registers in a 1st-generation SiGe HBT technology were designed and measured under a heavy-ion beam, and shown to increase the LET threshold over standard npn only shift registers. Using the CREME96 tool, the expected orbital bit-errors/day were simulated to be approximately 70% lower with the IMC shift register. These measured results help demonstrate the efficacy of using the IMC device as a low-cost means for improving the SEE radiation hardness of SiGe HBT technology without increasing area or power. © 2010 IEEE.