ABSTRACT
Modern silicon-based processes feature active devices functioning at very high speeds, with Gigahertz being the standard unit of measurement and state-of-the-art transistors operating with ease above 200 GHz. This chapter introduces the types of passive components commonly used in advanced silicon platforms, explores the different types of environments such circuitry may experience, and discusses relevant published literature that exists both to characterize any electrical parameter changes and to explain the physical forces at play. Integrated circuit technology has evolved significantly from the early days of discrete devices and crude silicon-integrated circuits to highly scaled CMOS platforms with devices with feature sizes down to 22 nm and below. Single-event effects differ from total dose in that they are individual events caused by highly energetic particles penetrating the active layers of a device, depositing charge, and disrupting electric fields as they slow down from interactions with the material.
