PROTON IRRADIATION EFFECTS ON ADVANCED DIGITAL AND MICROWAVE III-V COMPONENTS

A wide range of advanced III-V components suitable for use in high-speed satellite communication systems were evaluated for displacement damage and single-event effects in high-energy, high-fluence proton environments. Transistors and integrated circuits (both digital and MMIC) were irradiated with protons at energies from 41 to 197 MeV and at fluences from 10(10) to 2x10(14) protons/cm(2). Large soft-error rate were measured for digital GaAs MESFET (3x10(-5) errors/bit-day) and heterojunction bipolar circuits (10(-5) errors/bit-day). No transient signals were detected from MMIC circuits. The largest degradation in transistor response caused by displacement damage was observed for 1.0-mu m depletion- and enhancement-mode MESFET transistors. Shorter gate length MESFET transistors and HEMT transistors exhibited less displacement-induced damage. These results show that memory-intensive GaAs digital circuits may result in significant system degradation due to single-event upset in natural and man-made space environments. However, displacement damage effects should not be a limiting factor for fluence levels up to 10(14) protons/cm(2) [equivalent to total doses in excess of 10 Mrad(GaAs)].