ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the effects of space radiation on microelectronic devices, and shows how device scaling has affected their vulnerability to radiation. The most dramatic impact has been on single-particle effects, particularly those caused by galactic cosmic rays. New effects can occur at the microscopic level, including permanent damage from the interaction of a single energetic particle when it strikes the gate of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor. Scaling also impacts device complexity, not only because advanced circuits use such large number of transistors but also because of the complex processing steps needed to design individual transistors that can function with such small feature sizes and meet the requirements necessary for competitive performance. Many of the practical problems that need to be addressed in space are related to the complex design methods used to fabricate scaled devices.
