Development of robust analog electronics at the University of Tennessee for NASA/JPL extreme environment applications

The INSYTE (Integrated Circuits and Systems) Laboratory at The University of Tennessee is currently investigating robust CMOS analog and mixed-signal circuit design techniques for extreme environments. This work is being targeted for Mars surface applications where the temperature can vary from -1200/spl square/C to +20/spl square/C depending on time of day and location. In this paper we present both robust analog design techniques and measurement results from several test circuits. The design techniques focus on developing high performance OTAs and op-amps that can operate over a wide temperature range. The test circuits include a 3.3 V ping-pong op-amp and a 3.3 V rail-to-rail I/O op-amp capable of driving resistive loads.