Emerging optocoupler issues with energetic particle-induced transients and permanent radiation degradation

Abstract

Radiation-induced permanent degradation and single event transient effects for optocouplers are discussed in this paper. These two effects are independent to the first order and will be addressed separately. Displacement damage-induced degradation of optocoupler current transfer ratio is reviewed. New data are presented that show the importance of application specific testing and that generalized quantification of optocoupler CTR degradation can lead to incorrect predictions of actual circuit performance in a radiation environment. Data are given for various circuit loading and drive current parameters. Previous work that introduces the idea that two mechanisms exist for inducing transients on the optocoupler output is discussed. New data are presented that extends the evidence of this dual mechanism hypothesis. In this work measurements show that single event transient cross sections and transient propagation varies with circuit filtering. Finally, we discuss utilization of the optocouplers in the space environment. New data are applied to two examples: one on permanent degradation and the other on single event transient rates in high bandwidth applications.

Low temperature radiation test of high voltage optocouplers for space applications

“…Previous studies in radiation induced degradation in optocouplers at room temperature indicated that the most affected parameters were CTR and dark current (1,2). This fact is also applicable to high voltage (HV) optocoupler where the working voltage could go up to 10KV.…”

Final report on LDRD project 52722 : radiation hardened optoelectronic components for space-based applications.

“…Investigations by LaBel et al [1] and Reed et al [2] suggest that high-bandwidth optocouplers (GaAs LED and Si photodiode) are more susceptible to transient effects than low-bandwidth optocouplers. A review of single-event effects on a variety of spacebased devices was published recently with an excellent list of references [3].…”

Predicting Optocoupler Life with Radiation Damage in Various Circuits

“…Not surprisingly, when it becomes necessary to predict the life of an optocoupler circuit this information is difficult to apply. One of the key reasons is that optocoupler performance parameters and their apparent degradation depend on the circuit application, as suggested by [1] and [2]. For a complex system it is impractical to test each unique circuit application.…”