An RHBD Bandgap Reference Utilizing Single Event Transient Isolation Technique

Abstract

A novel radiation-hardened-by-design (RHBD) structure to reduce the single event transient (SET) amplitude in analog circuits is presented in this paper. This structure features an SET isolation technique, which contains a sensor and a switch. The sensor turns off the switch when it detects a voltage transient at the sensitive node, in which case the core circuit is temporarily isolated from the output. Once the voltage at the sensitive node recovers, the sensor turns on the switch again in order to connect the core circuit to the output. This RHBD technique was validated based on a typical bandgap reference circuit, which was fabricated in the IBM 130 nm technology. The simulation results demonstrated a significant reduction in the SET amplitude, which was further verified with the pulsed laser. The additional sensor and the switch in the circuit only produce a minor amount of additional power dissipation if they are properly chosen. The area overhead is rendered negligible by means of selecting the appropriate sizes of transistors for the RHBD structure.Index Terms-Bandgap reference, pulsed laser, radiation hardened by design (RHBD), SET isolation, single event transient (SET).

A Single-event Transient Mitigation Technique for Bandgap Reference Utilizing in Space Application

“…The related research on the single-event transient (SET) effects of the bandgap reference circuit were reported in [3][4][5][6][7]. The circuitlevel radiation-hardened-by-design (RHBD) techniques, such as the guard ring technique [3], the triode reverse connection [4], and the inverse-mode transistors [5], were adopted in SiGe BiCMOS technology.…”

“…The circuitlevel radiation-hardened-by-design (RHBD) techniques, such as the guard ring technique [3], the triode reverse connection [4], and the inverse-mode transistors [5], were adopted in SiGe BiCMOS technology. The suppression of SET pulses was also realized by pulse quenching [6] and DC signal isolation [7] in bulk CMOS process. However, there are currently few papers on the modulelevel RHBD techniques for mitigating SET effects.…”