The book is intended for researchers and professionals interested in understanding how to design and make a preliminary characterization of Radiation Hardened (rad-hard) analog and mixed-signal circuits, exploiting standard CMOS manufacturing processes available from different silicon foundries and using different technology nodes. It starts with an introductory overview of the effects of radiation in space and harsh environments with a specific focus on analog circuits to enable the reader to understand why specific design solutions are adopted to mitigate hard/soft errors. The following four Chapters are devoted to RHBD (Radiation Hardening by Design) techniques for semiconductor components applied to Operational Amplifiers, Voltage References, Analog-to-Digital (ADC) and Digital-to-Analog (DAC) converters. Each Chapter is organized with a first part which recalls the basic working principles of such circuit and a second part which describes the main RHBD techniques proposed in the literature to make them resilient to radiation. The approach follows a top-down scheme starting from RHBD at circuit level (how to mitigate radiation effects by handling transistors in the proper way) and finishing at layout level (how to shape a layout to mitigate radiation effects). The last-but-one Chapter is devoted to a special class of analog circuit, the dosimeters, which are gaining importance in space, health and nuclear applications. By leveraging the characteristic of a Flash-memory cell, a re-usable dosimeter is described which includes the sensitive element itself, the analog interface and the process of characterization. The last part is an overview of the strategies adopted for the testing of analog and mixed-signal circuits. In particular, it will focus also on the measurement campaigns performed by the Authors aiming for the characterization of developed rad-hard components under total dose (TID) and single-events (SEE). Technical topics discussed in the book include: - Radiation effects on semiconductor components (TID, SEE) - Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) Techniques - Rad-hard Operational Amplifiers - Rad-hard Voltage References - Rad-hard ADC - Rad-hard DAC - Rad-hard Special Circuits - Testing Strategies

Despite the fact that in the digital domain, designers can take full benefits of IPs and design automation tools to synthesize and design very complex systems, the analog designers’ task is still considered as a ‘handcraft’, cumbersome and very time consuming process. Thus, tremendous efforts are being deployed to develop new design methodologies in the analog/RF and mixed-signal domains. This book collects 16 state-of-the-art contributions devoted to the topic of systematic design of analog, RF and mixed signal circuits. Divided in the two parts Methodologies and Techniques recent theories, synthesis techniques and design methodologies, as well as new sizing approaches in the field of robust analog and mixed signal design automation are presented for researchers and R/D engineers.

Unfriendly to conventional electronic devices, circuits, and systems, extreme environments represent a serious challenge to designers and mission architects. The first truly comprehensive guide to this specialized field, Extreme Environment Electronics explains the essential aspects of designing and using devices, circuits, and electronic systems intended to operate in extreme environments, including across wide temperature ranges and in radiation-intense scenarios such as space. The Definitive Guide to Extreme Environment Electronics Featuring contributions by some of the world’s foremost experts in extreme environment electronics, the book provides in-depth information on a wide array of topics. It begins by describing the extreme conditions and then delves into a description of suitable semiconductor technologies and the modeling of devices within those technologies. It also discusses reliability issues and failure mechanisms that readers need to be aware of, as well as best practices for the design of these electronics. Continuing beyond just the "paper design" of building blocks, the book rounds out coverage of the design realization process with verification techniques and chapters on electronic packaging for extreme environments. The final set of chapters describes actual chip-level designs for applications in energy and space exploration. Requiring only a basic background in electronics, the book combines theoretical and practical aspects in each self-contained chapter. Appendices supply additional background material. With its broad coverage and depth, and the expertise of the contributing authors, this is an invaluable reference for engineers, scientists, and technical managers, as well as researchers and graduate students. A hands-on resource, it explores what is required to successfully operate electronics in the most demanding conditions.

Analog Circuit Design contains the contribution of 18 tutorials of the 14th workshop on Advances in Analog Circuit Design. Each part discusses a specific todate topic on new and valuable design ideas in the area of analog circuit design. Each part is presented by six experts in that field and state of the art information is shared and overviewed. This book is number 14 in this successful series of Analog Circuit Design, providing valuable information and excellent overviews of analog circuit design, CAD and RF systems. Analog Circuit Design is an essential reference source for analog circuit designers and researchers wishing to keep abreast with the latest development in the field. The tutorial coverage also makes it suitable for use in an advanced design course.

This book provides a detailed treatment of radiation effects in electronic devices, including effects at the material, device, and circuit levels. The emphasis is on transient effects caused by single ionizing particles (single-event effects and soft errors) and effects produced by the cumulative energy deposited by the radiation (total ionizing dose effects). Bipolar (Si and SiGe), metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS), and compound semi-conductor technologies are discussed. In addition to considering the specific issues associated with high-performance devices and technologies, the book includes the background material necessary for understanding radiation effects at a more general level.