Linear Correlation between Pre-radiation and Post-radiation Input Bias Currents in Bipolar Devices

Due to variability, the input bias currents in bipolar devices, no matter before or after gamma-ray irradiations, are different for different samples. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate that there is a linear correlation between the pre-radiation and post-radiation input bias currents for samples from the same manufacturer and the same batch. The correlation is found in three typical commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) bipolar devices, including quad-operation amplifiers MC4741, LM324N and quad comparator LM2901, which are irradiated with different gamma ray total doses, dose rates, and temperatures. We indicated that, the possible mechanism of the remarkable effect is that, in the input stage bipolar junction transistor, the radiation-induced space charge region (SCR) current and the pre-radiation carriers diffusion current are generated in the same emitter region thus obey a linear correlation, while the radiation-induced neutral base surface (NBS) current is generated in a different (base) region thus is independent from the diffusion current. Moreover, it is found that, the SCR-like component dominates in MC4741, the NBS-like component dominates in LM324N, while the two components are comparable in LM2901, implying different roles of the two components in the total dose effect of different kind of devices. The found linear correlation can be used in exact damage prediction and nondestructive device selection.