Irradiation behaviour of complementary metal oxide semiconductor field effect (CMOS) devices

CMOS transistors, inverters, NOR gates, and capacitors were investigated by means of high energy electrons and X rays for different operating conditions. Change of transfer characteristics and drain current level are individually related to NMOST and PMOST properties. Their deterioration is explained by MOS capacitor bahavior, which provides the principal parameters of CMOS radiation damage for ionizing radiation: flat-band voltage and quantities of donor and acceptor type and oxide charge. Their mutual dependence is discussed. For thermal oxide their increase after irradiation exposure is predominantly related to irradiation biasing, less to technological conditions. Space applications aspects and reliability limits for conventional CMOS circuitry is evaluated, as well as radiation hardening and thermal annealing