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Response of Integrated Silicon Microwave pin Diodes to X-Ray and Fast-Neutron Irradiation

Teng, Jeffrey W.; Nergui, Delgermaa; Parameswaran, Hari; Sepulveda-Ramos, Nelson E.; Tzintzarov, George N.; Mensah, Yaw; Cheon, Clifford D.; Rao, Sunil G.; Ringel, Brett; Gorchichko, Mariia; Li, Kan; Ying, Hanbin; Ildefonso, Adrian; Dodds, Nathaniel A.; Nowlin, R.N.; Zhang, En X.; Fleetwood, Daniel M.; Cressler, John D.

Integrated silicon microwave pin diodes are exposed to 10-keV X-rays up to a dose of 2 Mrad(SiO2) and 14-MeV fast neutrons up to a fluence of 2.2, × ,10,^ 13 cm-2. Changes in both dc leakage current and small-signal circuit components are examined. Degradation in performance due to total-ionizing dose (TID) is shown to be suppressed by non-quasi-static (NQS) effects during radio frequency (RF) operation. Tolerance to displacement damage from fast neutrons is also observed, which is explained using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations. Overall, the characterized pin diodes are tolerant to cumulative radiation at levels consistent with space applications such as geosynchronous weather satellites.