First studies of the impact of dose radiation on the electromagnetic susceptibility of bipolar transistors

Space or military electronic components are subject to both electromagnetic susceptibility and ionizing dose. Synergy effects should therefore be considered at early stages of component design. This paper deals with the susceptibility to high frequency signals in the 600 MHz–1 GHz frequency range of electronic voltage comparators subject to ionizing dose. The comparators come into two batches: non-irradiated and irradiated by ionizing dose with a cobalt 60 source. Both initial and irradiated devices are subject to an electromagnetic interference in the near-field zone. A comparison of the output voltage on both batches shows that ionizing can drastically affect electromagnetic susceptibility. In order to gain in-depth knowledge in electromagnetic susceptibility — dose radiation synergy, a methodology for discrete components and complex circuits is proposed.