Ultra-low-power RADFET sensing circuit for wireless sensor networks powered by energy harvesting

We evaluate an ultra-low-power radiation-sensing circuit based on a radiation sensitive MOSFET (RADFET) for use in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) powered by energy harvesting with a special focus on airborne applications. We estimate a worst-case energy budget below 10 μJ per readout cycle superimposed on a constant worst-case power budget below 10 μW. The sensor circuit operates successfully with a wireless sensor node powered by a piezoelectric harvester and power management unit which is able to provide up to 2.5 mW at 10 Hz, 600 με in emulated flight mode.