Impact of Proton Irradiation on the RF Performance of 0.12 m CMOS Technology

The effects of 63 MeV proton irradiation on the dc and RF performance of a 0.12 mu m CMOS technology is presented for the first time. The radiation response of the CMOS devices was investigated up to an equivalent total gamma dose of 1.0 Mrad(Si). Measurements of the dc current-voltage, low-frequency (1/f) noise, S-parameters, and broadband noise characteristics of the devices were performed before and after irradiation at room temperature. These scaled CMOS devices show a very slight degradation of threshold voltage, transconductance (g(m)), and 1/f noise after proton irradiation without any intentional radiation hardening. High-frequency measurements on the irradiated devices show that there is very little or no perceptible degradation of S-parameters, cut-off frequency (f(T)), or broadband noise characteristics to 1 Mrad(Si) exposure levels. These results suggest that this 0.12 mu m CMOS technology is well-suited for the development of total-dose radiation tolerant analog and RF circuits without additional radiation hardening.