Analysis of Total Ionizing Dose effects for highly scaled CMOS devices in Low Earth Orbit

Highlights: • Simulation of TID effects on CMOS technology demonstrated. • TID effects for space radiation environment. • TID related device parameters visualized. • Reliability of devices operation in LEO environment predicted. • Proposed appropriate/required shield for NMOS transistor. Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effects are an essential concern for integrated devices that are operating in space environment. We present in this work an extensive study of TID effects in Deep-Submicron and Nanoscale CMOS technologies. Principal aspects are the changes of the transistors I-V characteristics due to TID effects, the variation of the threshold voltage and the impact of radiation on the carrier densities and mobility as well as on the electrical potentials and the leakage currents. Further, we discuss a potential solution that reduces TID effects in CMOS devices. The device level simulations consider a satellite application that orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), leading to dose levels of up to 500 krad(Si). Results clearly indicate the high impact of TID on the transistor parameters, enforcing the designer to consider countermeasures in order to guarantee the circuits reliability.