I have always been fascinated with space. The beauty of the vast Milky Way as a shooting star races across a clear sky. Spotting as many planets as my eyes can see, and tracing out the numerous constellations while lying across the freshly mowed lawn on a warm summer evening. I remember watching Neil Armstrong make history in 1969, and seeing the Hubble Space Telescope housed in a clean room prior to launch. I am thrilled with the successful Mars Curiosity mission, a nine-month 350 million mile journey that continues to beam home incredible images from the red planet. The solar system and what lies beyond will forever intrigue me.

Self Portrait by Curiosity Rover Arm Camera. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
Scientists and engineers began working on space exploration over 60 years ago. In 1957, Russia launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1.

Sputnik 1. Credit NASA/Asif A. Siddiqi
The surprise success of this endeavor triggered a space race between two superpowers. The concept of launching rockets carrying satellites and astronauts into space seemed plausible; after all we had been flying powered aircraft since 1903. Was the solution as simple as creating an engine capable of thrusting a space vehicle beyond our atmosphere? Or were there other factors that would come into play before space travel would become a reality?
What’s Out There Anyway?
Scientists have been studying the universe as far back as recorded time. One key discovery was cosmic rays, high energy radiation which originates outside of our universe. Cosmic rays attract great interest in the scientific community because of the damage they inflict on microelectronics and life outside the protection of an atmosphere and magnetic field. Cosmic rays have sufficient energy to alter the states of circuit components in electronic integrated circuits, causing transient errors to occur, such as corrupted data in electronic memory devices, or incorrect performance of CPUs, often referred to as "soft errors". At mission altitudes above 200 km, the earth’s atmosphere offers little protection by way of radiation absorption and trapped radiation attrition. Solving this electronic phenomenon is one of the most important issues facing interplanetary travel by crewed spacecraft.
Solving the Cosmic Ray Predicament
Scientists have dabbled in a number of methods to reduce effects from cosmic rays. Strategies such as physical or magnetic shielding of spacecraft help to minimize disruptions to electronic circuits. Additional methods include the use radiation immune microelectronics. ON Semiconductor offers Radiation Hardened by Design (RHBD) solutions critical for space and Hi-Rel applications. Available in the company’s 110 nm digital Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) processes, the design offering includes a novel flip-flop architecture called Self Restoring Logic (SRL). SRL remains hard to single event effects at high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) while operating up to 700 MHz, far exceeding the capability of legacy RHBD flip-flop architectures. Built in redundancy, ability to repair soft and hard errors, and scanable to remove manufacturing defects, the SRL cell showed no single event latch-up below a LET threshold of 100 MeV-cm2/mg (Si). A latch-up resistant Dual Port SRAM with on-board error correction code (ECC), hardened clock elements, high speed I/O cells and a single event latch up protection cell expand the design portfolio.

Proven Rad-Hard Solutions for Space
ON Semiconductor has a wide range of design solutions to mitigate radiation effects. Hardened IP and a proven commercial ASIC development flow combine to achieve results that meet the design and application needs of a wide range of applications. The company’s ASIC legacy spans five decades and includes thousands of design-from-spec, customer interactive, and FPGA conversion success stories. The addition of 110nm RHBD capabilities enables ON Semiconductor to expand our ASIC heritage and service the needs of existing and new customers.
After a long day, take time to look toward the heavens. See how many planets and constellations you can find. Count the number of shooting stars that dart before your eyes. And as you enjoy the magnificent light show in the sky, rest assured that ON Semiconductor continues to develop new technologies to bring space a little closer to home.
Share your Thoughts!
I welcome your comments. Tell me about your memories of space exploration. Dreams of space travel, worked on making it a reality, or actually travelled beyond our atmosphere? Drop me a line and fill me in on the excitement!