Resiliency of Electronics
Space Hardening
Space Hardening refers to the set of techniques used to make electronics resistant to the radiation present in space.
Silicon on Insulator - One of the major space hardening techniques is to fabricate integrated circuits on insulating substrates rather than semiconducting substrates. Fabrication refers to unit processes such as doping and drive-in that is used to create transistors, diodes, and other circuit elements. Insulating substrates provide better isolation of circuit elements than semiconductor substrates. This helps to prevent latch up, parasitic capacitances, and other malfunctions in integrated circuits. Sapphire is a commonly used substrate. Unfortunately SOI techniques are significantly more complex and costly than conventional electronics. In the same vein, wide band gap semiconductors can provide better properties for electronics when used as substrates. GaN and SiC are two popular choices.
BJT devices have a higher resistance to radiation than CMOS devices. SRAM offers more protection than DRAM. Fortunately, many integrated circuits designed with CMOS and DRAM technology can also be created using equivalent BJT and DRAM devices. An alternative approach to designing electronics that will not malfunction in space is to use these alternative technologies wherever possible.