SiGe 130 nm-based Rad-Hard ADC for the JEO Mission

Ridgetop will demonstrate the feasibility of developing a radiation-hardened analog-to-digital converter (ADC) suitable for the Jupiter Europa Orbiter mission. This proposal responds to topic S1.09, In-Situ Sensors and Sensor Systems for Planetary Science. With this innovation, the ADC will be hardened to significantly higher levels of radiation (5 Mrads) than currently existing ADCs, and its performance will still clearly exceed the performance of ADCs used previously on NASA planetary missions. The ADC will have 12-bit resolution, 125 MSPS sampling speed, and low 150 mW power consumption. The ADC will be designed on the IBM 8HP 130 nm silicon germanium (SiGe) fabrication process, which has been shown to be tolerant to very high levels of total ionizing dose (TID) radiation and suitable for wide temperature range operation. At the end of Phase 1, the proven mixed-signal circuits will provide momentum to create an radiation-hardened, transistor-level ADC design in a follow-on SBIR Phase 2 Program, in which the ADC will be fabricated in the IBM 8HP 130 nm BiCMOS SiGe process and tested.

Potential non-NASA Commercial Applications include: 1) Medical imaging market; 2) Satellite telecommunications market; 3) Nuclear energy applications; 4) Military applications; 5) High-energy physics instrumentation; 6) Industrial radiation-tolerant instrumentation. In this SBIR program, Ridgetop Group will prove it is feasible to build a library of reusable analog integrated circuit (IC) blocks to design and develop both ADCs and DACs with MTR outputs.

Potential NASA Commercial Applications include: Radiation-hardened circuits and techniques are increasingly important in NASA space technology programs. Their adaptation for commercial and space systems presents the following opportunities for the Ridgetop radiation-hardened library of cells: 1) Space-based radar systems; 2) Satellite communication systems; 3) Planetary mission applications

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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