Investigation of FPGA and SRAM Cells Under Radiation Exposure

Basically, every human as well as electronical equipment on earth, is naturally exposed to ionizing radiation. This may lead to unwanted failures, especially in microelectronic devices. This becomes more severe due to the continuously downscaling of microelectronic structures. The use of SRAM-based FPGAs for aerospace applications is viewed critically [1]-[3]. Autonomous driving and the expectation of more than 8000 new launched satellites, for navigation and communication, in the next few years increases the need for radiation hardened (Rad-Hard) components, which are expensive. Therefore, the aim is to find commercials-of-the-shelf (COTS), which meets the need for this kind of harsh environment. Normally, Rad-Hard components are specially designed and tested especially for the application in automotive. It is well known that test time in all cases is expensive and time-consuming. Furthermore, simulations are more and more desired to decrease test times and allow a deeper look into the physical behavior of components and devices.