Low temperature testing of a radiation hardened CMOS 8-bit flash analog-to-digital (A/D) converter

摘要

Power processing electronic systems, data acquiring probes, and signal conditioning circuits are required to operate reliably under harsh environments in many of NASA's missions. The environment of the space mission as well as the operational requirements of some of the electronic Systems, such as infrared-based satellite or telescopic observation stations where cryogenics are involved, dictate the utilization of electronics that can operate efficiently and reliably at low temperatures. In this work, radiation-hard CMOS 8-bit flash AID converters were characterized in terms of voltage conversion and offset in the temperature range of +25 °C to - 190 °C. Static and dynamic supply currents, ladder resistance, and gain and offset errors were also obtained in the temperature range of +125 °C to - 190 °C. The effect of thermal cycling on these properties for a total of ten cycles between +80 °C and -150 °C was also determined. The experimental procedure along with the data obtained are reported and discussed in this paper.