Radiation Effects in Iii-v Semiconductor Electronics

Abstract

Particle irradiation effects in III-V semiconductor devices and selected circuits are reviewed. Radiation effects concerns in III-V devices are associated primarily with displacement damage and single-event upset. In conventional transistors, displacement damage decreases the gain, increases leakage and shifts the collector-emitter offset voltage. In reduced dimensional devices. such as high electron mobility transistors and resonant tunneling diodes, the main displacement damage effect is to reduce current by increasing scattering out of the two-dimensional transport state. The current understanding of single-event effects in III-V circuits and devices, and approaches for mitigating their impact, are also discussed here. Single-event effects are a serious concern for high-speed III-V semiconductor devices operating in radiation-intense environments. GaAs integrated circuits (ICs) based on field effect transistor technology exhibit single-event upset sensitivity to protons and very low linear energy transfer (LET) particles; this sensitivity becomes more significant as clock rates and operating speeds increase.

TCAD simulation study of heavy ion radiation effects on hetero junctionless tunnel field effect transistor

“…McMorrow et al analysed the transient response of the III–V field effect transistor to heavy ion radiation 26 . The single event effect (SEE) in III–V circuits and methods to mitigate their impact is explored 27 . It is found that SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBT) have a lot of potential for functioning in a range of harsh radiation environments 28 .…”

Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the Electronic and Optical Properties of AlGaAs/InGaAs-Based Quantum Well Structures

“…Neutron irradiation of InGaAs-based semiconductor heterostructures and devices was shown to result in different degradation effects [6,7]. Irradiation with fast neutrons with fluences up to 10 14 cm −2 led to a significant decrease in the light power generated via the InGaAs p-i-n photodiode and to photodiode dark current degradation due to the formation of lattice defects [8].…”

Changes in the characteristics of semiconductor structures of microwave amplifiers under the action of pulsed laser radiation

“…A high energy electromagnetic and charged particle flux in cosmic space dropping on a spacecraft can cause electronic modules to malfunction or trigger a short-term loss of their functions during the ionizing radiation flowthrough time [1,2]. The electron-hole pairs [3,4] are formed under the action of gamma ray photons, charged and neutral particles passing through the semiconductor. Their amount depends on the energy absorbed in the semiconductor rather than on the type of radiation.…”