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NASA NTRS2007

Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) for Space Systems

This presentation discusses radiation hardness assurance (RHA) for space systems, providing both the programmatic aspects of RHA and the RHA procedure. RHA consists of all activities undertaken to ensure that the electronics and materials of a space system perform to their design specifications after exposure to the space radiation environment. RHA also pertains to environment definition, part selection, part testing, spacecraft layout, radiation tolerant design, and mission/system/subsystems requirements. RHA procedure consists of establishing mission requirements, defining and evaluating the radiation hazard, selecting and categorizing the appropriate parts, and evaluating circuit response to hazard. The RHA approach is based on risk management and is confined only to parts, it includes spacecraft layout, system/subsystem/circuit design, and system requirements and system operations. RHA should be taken into account in the early phases of a program including the proposal and feasibility analysis phases.

Poivey, Christian↗

NASA NTRS2010

Interpreting Space-Mission LET Requirements for SEGR in Power MOSFETs

Single-event gate rupture (SEGR) is a potentially catastrophic failure mechanism of power MOSFETs biased in the off-state. In part due to the severity of-SEGR consequences and in part due to the difficulty of accurated SEGR rate estimation, SEGR mitigation me1hodologies emphasize risk avoidance, using heavy-ion accelerator testing to define safe operating conditions for a surface-incident linear energy transfer {LET). This "safe-operating area" (SOA) within which the device may be biased without experiencing SEGR is then often derated by a prescribed factor to ensure low risk of SEGR. Although research in 1996 indicated that such LET-based SEGR hardness requiremen1s could provide false assurance of safe operation unless one also considered· ion energy], most mission SEGR requirements are still specified in terms of surface-incident LET. Moreover, terrestrial SEGR tests at a given surface-incident LET are limited by the small number of ion species and energies available at heavy-ion accelerators. In comparison, the on-orbit radiation environment is composed of all of the naturally-occurring elements with peak fluxes at nearly GeV/nucleon energies. The primary objective of this study is to examine whether typical derating of high-energy heavy-ion accelerator test data bounds the risk for SEGR from higher-energy on-orbit ions with the mission LET requirement.

Lauenstein, Jean-Marie↗

NASA NTRS2021

JSC Avionics Ionizing Radiation Effects Standard (AIRES)

This document, the JSC Engineering Directorate Avionics Ionizing Radiation Effects Standard (AIRES), provides design, test, and analysis requirements to ensure electronic hardware meets functional, performance and reliability requirements in the mission ionizing radiation environment. This suite of activities is referred to as Radiation Hardening Assurance (RHA) and is an integral part of the hardware design process.

Ionizing Radiation↗

DOE OSTI2022

Development, construction and tests of the Mu2e electromagnetic calorimeter mechanical structures

The “muon-to-electron conversion” (Mu2e) experiment at Fermilab will search for the charged lepton flavour violating neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The observation of this process would be the unambiguous evidence of the existence of physics beyond the standard model. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw-tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and an external veto for cosmic rays. In particular, the calorimeter provides excellent electron identification, a fast calorimetric online trigger, and complementary information to aid pattern recognition and track reconstruction. The detector has been designed as a state-of-the-art crystal calorimeter and employs 1348 pure Cesium Iodide (CsI) crystals readout by UV-extended silicon photosensors and fast front-end and digitization electronics. A design consisting of two identical annular matrices (named “disks”) positioned at the relative distance of 70 cm downstream the aluminum target along the muon beamline satisfies the Mu2e physics requirements. The hostile Mu2e operational conditions, in terms of radiation levels (total expected ionizing dose of 12 krad and a neutron fluence of 5 × 10$^{10}$ n/cm$^{2}$ @ 1 MeV$_{eq}$ (Si)/y), magnetic field intensity (1 T) and vacuum level (10$^{-4}$ Torr) have posed tight constraints on scintillating materials, sensors, electronics and on the design of the detector mechanical structures and material choice. The support structure of each 674 crystal matrix is composed of an aluminum hollow ring and parts made of open-cell vacuum-compatible carbon fiber. The photosensors and front-end electronics for the readout of each crystal are inserted in a machined copper holder and make a unique mechanical unit. The resulting 674 mechanical units are supported by a machined plate of vacuum-compatible plastic material. The plate also integrates the cooling system made of a network of copper lines flowing a low temperature radiation-hard fluid and placed in thermal contact with the copper holders to constitute a low resistance thermal bridge. The data acquisition electronics are hosted in aluminum custom crates positioned on the external lateral surface of the disks. The crates also integrate the electronics cooling system as lines running in parallel to the front-end system. In this paper we report on the calorimeter mechanical structure design, the mechanical and thermal simulations that have determined the design technological choices, and the status of component production, quality assurance tests and plans for assembly at Fermilab.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2022

Development, construction and qualification tests of the mechanical structures of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab

The “muon-to-electron conversion” (Mu2e) experiment at Fermilab will search for the Charged Lepton Flavour Violating neutrino-less coherent conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The observation of this process would be the unambiguous evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. Mu2e detectors comprise a straw-tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter and an external veto for cosmic rays. The calorimeter provides excellent electron identification, complementary information to aid pattern recognition and track reconstruction, and a fast calorimetric online trigger. The detector has been designed as a state-of-the-art crystal calorimeter and employs 1340 pure Cesium Iodide (CsI) crystals readout by UV-extended silicon photosensors and fast front-end and digitization electronics. A design consisting of two identical annular matrices (named “disks”) positioned at the relative distance of 70 cm downstream the aluminum target along the muon beamline satisfies the Mu2e physics requirements.The hostile Mu2e operational conditions, in terms of radiation levels (total ionizing dose of 12 krad and a neutron fluence of 5x1010 n/cm2 @ 1 MeVeq (Si)/y), magnetic field intensity (1 T) and vacuum level (10$^{-4}$ Torr) have posed tight constraints on the design of the detector mechanical structures and materials choice. The support structure of the two 670 crystal matrices employs two aluminum hollow rings and parts made of open-cell vacuum-compatible carbon fiber. The photosensors and service front-end electronics for each crystal are assembled in a unique mechanical unit inserted in a machined copper holder. The 670 units are supported by a machined plate made of vacuum-compatible plastic material. The plate also integrates the cooling system made of a network of copper lines flowing a low temperature radiation-hard fluid and placed in thermal contact with the copper holders to constitute a low resistance thermal bridge. The data acquisition electronics is hosted in aluminum custom crates positioned on the external lateral surface of the two disks. The crates also integrate the electronics cooling system as lines running in parallel to the front-end system.The constraints on the calorimeter mechanical structures design, the development from the conceptual design to the specifications of all the structural components, the status of components production and the components quality assurance tests are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS2015

Use of Proton SEE Data as a Proxy for Bounding Heavy-Ion SEE Susceptibility

Although heavy-ion single-event effects (SEE) pose serious threats to semiconductor devices in space, many missions face difficulties testing such devices at heavy-ion accelerators. Low-cost missions often find such testing too costly. Even well funded missions face issues testing commercial off the shelf (COTS) due to packaging and integration. Some missions wish to fly COTS systems with little insight into their components. Heavy-ion testing such parts and systems requires access to expensive and hard-to-access ultra-high energy ion accelerators, or significant system modification. To avoid these problems, some have proposed using recoil ions from high-energy protons as a proxy to bound heavy-ion SEE rates.

reliability estimation↗

NASA NTRS2019

Bringing Single-Event Effects Down to Earth

In the 47 years since single-event effects were first observed in spacecraft electronics, radiation experts have developed an effective methodology supported by a nationwide infrastructure. A highly skilled workforce of radiation engineers has developed test facilities and methods, modeling and simulation techniques, and mitigation and design strategies to ensure space missions meet their performance and reliability requirements even in the harsh radiation environments of space. Now, increasing performance demands of space missions, the continued disruptive evolution of microcircuit technologies and growth and changes of the space industry have combined with an aging infrastructure are placing increasing strain on the radiation effects community, and the community is responding.

Single-event effects↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of a Probabilistic TID Hardness Assurance Method to Military Standards

The rapid evolution of electronics has heralded countless benefits to humanity, enabling increases in computing power while decreasing costs. However, the constantly changing semiconductor device landscape proves to be an immense challenge for the reliability community, especially for those concerned with radiation effects on microelectronics. Changes in device manufacturing, from device structure to processing steps, may and often do change the way the device responds to radiation. While radiation hardened parts are not as much of a reliability concern, they also lag behind commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, parts in terms of computing capabilities, some by over a decade. Many missions may have no choice but to utilize COTS. As such, these missions need to ensure their parts are reliable in the face of total ionizing dose (TID). However, part and testing facility costs limit the amount of testing possible.

Chloe Champagne↗

NASA NTRS2009

Understanding how molecular hydrogen impacts the total dose and dose rate response of linear bipolar circuits

Recent Enhanced Low Dose Rate Sensitivity (ELDRS) investigations carried out by RLP Research, Arizona State University (ASU) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have shown significant differences in the degradation of bipolar micro-circuits with total dose in the presence of molecular hydrogen (H2) in packages. This has a significant impact on radiation hardness assurance and opens up opportunities to improve device performance. The general objectives of this program are to: 1. Determine the extent to which hydrogen contamination affects the total dose and dose rate response of linear bipolar circuits; 2. Develop a model that will enable the prediction of high dose rate (HDR) and low dose rate (LDR) response asymptotes and transition dose rates as a function of total dose, temperature, pressurized hydrogen, defect precursors, and other process dependent variables; 3. Explore the possibility of an accelerated hardness assurance method and possible hardening approaches; and 4. Extend the work to other technologies that have total dose response affected by hydrogen contamination.In this document, we xperimentally demonstrate with test transistors and circuits that hydrogen is correlated with ELDRS in bipolar linear circuits. We show that the amount of hydrogen determines: 1) the total dose response versus dose rate and 2) the transition dose rates between the high and low dose rate responses. The experimental results are supported with a steady state drift/diffusion analytical model as well as modeling calculations using COMSOL Multiphysics.

Pease, Ron↗

NASA NTRS2019

Modern Hardness Assurance: A Brand New Game Except When it Isn't

Mission success criteria at the device level and required device operation/availability can determine the risk posed by the radiation effects for a given device in a given environment, but rarely are the same from one mission to another. A large portion of New Space / SmallSat missions to date have benefitted from relatively short mission durations and chosen orbits that have less severe particle populations than their larger counterparts. As mission objectives grow and become reliant on their chosen devices operating for longer lives and in more harsh environments, requirements need to reflect the changing scope but not hinder design adoptions from previously successful missions that provide new capabilities. This presentation describes notable differences in radiation environments, the requirement changes that come with choice of orbit, and prioritizations for mission success criteria to be determined by the designers of the system and subsystems. Test methodologies based on radiation effect categories are explained briefly; when they are needed. Similarity data (and its limitations) are discussed so that caveats and short-comings are understood. Reliability and assurance quantification may not always be possible, but determining where risks are taken and how to classify them is the essential topic for the intended practice: to establish radiation requirements with the goal of getting to mission success.

Campola, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Phasing COTS Part Into Low-Risk-Tolerant Missions

A number of activities within NASA and the space community, as well as growing technology needs and supply chain changes have accelerated the need to expand the use of COTS parts within NASA. While the use of COTS has been formally institutionalized and deemed acceptable for Class D space missions and those with greater tolerance for risk, there is still a lack of understanding of how to most effectively use COTS in such high risk-tolerance missions, and no apparent path towards broad use in missions with much less tolerance for risk. However, the reality is that the fundamental limitations of technology associated with the military specification system combined with the need to fly newer technologies in upcoming flagship robotic missions and human space flight missions will ultimately demand a more expansive use of COTS. The infinite nature of COTS gives rise to numerous challenges in the selection, acceptance, testing, and usage of COTS when reliable operation is essential. This presentation will highlight some of the results of a NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) study on the use of COTS parts, as well as many of the historical through current facts about parts assurance within Agency to provide a path forward for reliable use of COTS for a range of space applications and risk postures. In addition this presentation will dispel the myth that expanded use of COTS parts causes a new set of radiation threats to missions.

COTS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Phasing COTS Part Into Low-Risk-Tolerant Missions

COTS↗