Characterization, Selection, and Modeling of COTS and Standard CMOS Components at Cryogenic Temperatures

High-performance astronomical infrared detectors and front-end electronics often operate at temperatures from roughly 77 to 7 K and 120 to 40 K, respectively, for low dark current and noise. Achieving a reliable electronic system in such harsh environments is challenging. The main difficulties arise from the rapid performance degradation of some types of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) passive components and the lack of reliable cryogenic CMOS compact models for simulating readout circuits (ROICs) and custom ASICs. In this article, Aerospace-grade COTS and standard CMOS passive components, including resistors and capacitors, are characterized from 120 to 7 K and specific recommendations and models for cryogenic applications are provided. For cryogenic compact modeling of standard CMOS transistors, a novel golden components selection method has been proposed for parameter extraction, which could drastically reduce the workload compared to the standard process. The selected regular voltage threshold (RVT) nMOS and pMOS transistors with various sizes have been characterized and analyzed with dc and ac performance from 120 to 7 K. No kink effect has been observed in the process node used; thus, extra testing for substrate relative resistance has been operated and analyzed. In addition, a cryogenic extraction and optimization methodology of transistors has been developed. Finally, a cryogenic CMOS compact model for Global Foundries (GFs) $0.18~\mu $ m process node was developed, covering temperatures from 120 to 40 K, which could be applied for future designing of astronomical front-end electronics such as customized cryogenic ASICs. The model achieved a root-mean-square (rms) error of less than 5% between simulations and measurements, demonstrating its high accuracy and suitability for cryogenic applications.