Radiation and high-voltage tolerant space CAN driver in standard low-voltage 3.3 V CMOS technology

CAN is becoming the bus of choice for many space applications. The severe -2V to 7V common-mode and -3V to 16V failure tolerance requirements of the CAN bus driver have restricted its implementation to commercial high-voltage processes with transistors tolerant to voltages above 16V. These transistors experience sensitivity to SEGR and SEB radiation events and have led to the limited diffusion of commercial available CAN transceivers in space applications. This paper demonstrates for the first time that a radiation-tolerant CAN driver can also be realized with the radiation-tolerant low-voltage DARE Mixed Mode 180nm CMOS technology. This has been made possible by the development of a specific driver circuit that increases technology voltage handling range from 3.3V to 16V, while maintaining the radiation tolerance. This CAN driver has been manufactured and tested under heavy ion radiation in excess of 60MeVcm
²
/mg. Over the CAN common-mode and failure tolerance voltage range up to 16V, this CAN driver has been tested and found to have a high threshold and low cross-section to radiation induced SETs and an absence of SEL, SEGR and SEB sensitivity.