Chips in space

Microelectronic components that would function reliably at ground level may fail, with disastrous consequences, when used in a spacecraft or communications satellite. Outside the earth's atmosphere, ionizing radiation can make minute electronically active structures perform unreliably or break down completely. This paper reports that together with a team of graduate students, the author is investigating the fundamental mechanisms by which energetic radiation affects the behavior of microelectronic structures. Their approach involves three steps, each of which plays an essential role in the development of radiation-tolerant devices. First, they investigate the characteristics of relevant radiation sources, then they examine the way in which radiation interacts with the materials employed in particular electronic devices, and finally, they measure and interpret the response of these devices to the radiation field. The effort is interdisciplinary, involving nuclear science, space science, solid-state physics, and microelectronics