Effect of Space Radiation on the Leakage Current of MEMS Insulators
| Autor: | Andrey A. Voevodin, Steven T. Patton, Joseph W. Talnagi, Albert J. Frasca, John G. Jones, Richard A. Vaia, Benjamin S. Phillips, Daniel J. Hyman |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Materials science business.industry Electrical engineering Insulator (electricity) Filter capacitor law.invention Capacitor Nuclear Energy and Engineering law Electromagnetic shielding Equivalent circuit Optoelectronics Electrical and Electronic Engineering Resistor business Radiation hardening Leakage (electronics) |
| Zdroj: | IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. 60:3074-3083 |
| ISSN: | 1558-1578 0018-9499 |
| DOI: | 10.1109/tns.2013.2263840 |
| Popis: | The effect of space radiation on the reliability of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices is an important consideration for future upper atmosphere and space applications. MEMS capacitors with insulator materials of silicon nitride (Si3N4), silicon oxide (SiO2), and ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) were selected for radiation and leakage current studies. Leakage current was used as a measure of insulator performance and reliability, and is suggested here as a method to detect charge trapping, which also affects reliability. UNCD capacitors were orders of magnitude leakier than Si3N4 and SiO2, with Si3N4 being leakier than SiO2. SiO2 devices exhibited unstable leakage current with accumulated electric field stress, and were not utilized in radiation studies. Si3N4 capacitors exhibited leakage current decay (with a time constant of 190 s) under constant voltage stress above 2 MV/cm due to charge injection from the electrodes and trapping in the insulator. Si3N4 and UNCD capacitors were more sensitive to ionizing gamma radiation than to displacement damage from fast neutrons. Both Si3N4 and UNCD devices survived total doses of radiation representative of 20-100 years in the Van Allen radiation belts with 4 mm Al equivalent shielding. Capacitor equivalent circuit and resistor capacitor (RC) circuit charging models are developed to explain leakage current behavior of Si3N4 capacitors subjected to constant voltage stress and/or irradiation. In situ monitoring of Si3N4 capacitors placed next to the nuclear reactor core did not yield any single event effects at electric field strength of 1 MV/cm with a fast neutron fluence of 2×1012 n/cm2. Si3N4 MEMS capacitors appear best suited for upper atmosphere and space applications with their relatively low leakage current (low power consumption) and apparent radiation hardness. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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