3MeV-electron beam induced threshold voltage shifts and drain current degradation on ZVN3320FTA & ZVP3310FTA commercial MOSFETs

Spacecraft, military mission requires electronic devices that are radiation hardened to extend exposure to ionizing radiation. Among many other semiconductors MOSFET is highly targeted due to its switching and amplifying application in electronics devices. This study investigates threshold voltage shifts and drain current degradation mechanism for both P-channel and N-channel commercial Si MOSFET subjected to low doses of electron beam radiation. It is observed that at lower dose of electron beam radiation, the mechanism responsible for threshold voltage shifts is generation-recombination of electron - hole pair. For the N-channel device positive threshold voltage shifts were observed and negative threshold voltage shifts were found in the P - channel device. Electron radiation induced defect states act as traps for drain current degradation. Experiment data to the above mention samples revealed that generation of electron-hole pair and built of traps centers creates the defects such as threshold voltage shifts and drain current degradation. These defects are obtained due to the penetration of 3MeV energy of electron beam dose level from 50KGy to 250KGy. The irradiated devices were evaluated through its shifts in the current and voltage characteristics, results were analyzed and plotted for the both N-channel and P-channel MOSFE

Analysis of electrical responses of MEMS piezoresistive microcantilever

In this paper, an optimization of mechanical and electrical performance of single-layer silicon piezoresistive microcantilever (PRM) sensor in which both piezoresistor and microcantilever structures are made of the same material of single-crystalline silicon was discussed. Using CoventorWare 2008, the mechanical and electrical behaviors of the PRM structure was investigated by studying few contributing factors that affect the performance of the device. The performance of PRM sensor was investigated by observing the effects of applied loads to the current change and sensitivity of the device. Apart from that, the effects of thermal noise to the device’s performance were also investigated. From the simulation results, at applied loads between 1 to 10 µN, significant current increase of about 0.094% was observed. This current increase can be translated into an increase of sensitivity in the device. Simulation results also revealed that at temperature change between 290 K to 300 K, the PRM sensor shows insignificant change to sensitivity

Effects of electron radiation on commercial power MOSFET with buck converter application

Microelectronic power converters such as buck and boost converter are required to be tolerant to radiations including electron radiation. This paper examines electron radiation effects on the I–V characteristics of VDMOSFET and its corresponding effects in buck converter. Analysis of the electrical characteristics shows that after irradiation the threshold voltage and drain current for all VDMOSFETs degraded more than two orders of magnitude. The impact of this electrical degradation has been investigated in an application of typical buck converter circuit. The buck converter with n-channel switching transistor shows that after irradiation its output voltage increased with the drain current in the n-channel ZVN4424A VDMOSFET, while the buck converter with p-channel switching transistor shows its output voltage decreased with the drain current in the p-channel ZVP4424A VDMOSFET after irradiation