Integrated Time-Based Signal Processing Circuits for Harsh Radiation Environments

Book excerpt: This book covers the most recent, advanced methods for designing mixed-signal integrated circuits, for radiation-hardened sensor readouts (capacitive) and frequency synthesizers (quadrature, digitally controlled oscillators and all-digital PLL etc.). The authors discuss the ionizing radiation sources, complex failure mechanisms as well as several mitigation strategies for avoiding such failures. Readers will benefit from an introduction to the essential theory and fundamentals of ionizing radiation and time-based signal processing, with the details of the implementation of several radiation-hardened IC prototypes. The radiation-hardening methods and solutions described are supported by theory and experimental data with, underlying tradeoffs. Discusses the basics of time-based signal processing and its effectiveness in mitigating ionizing radiation Provides mitigation strategies and recommendations for reducing radiation induced effects in Integrated Circuits Includes coverage of devices used in measuring radiation, focusing on semiconductor-based radiation sensors