Development of a Radiation-Hardened Lateral Power MOSFET for POL Applications

Abstract

<para xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> The radiation response of lateral power MOSFETs in total dose and energetic particle environments is explored. Results indicate that lateral power MOSFETs can be quite susceptible to single-event burnout. Tradeoffs involved in developing radiation hardened lateral power MOSFETs for point-of-load applications are studied using experiments and device simulations. Both design and fabrication process techniques can be used to significantly improve the single-event effect performance of lateral power MOSFETs, but the trade space between electrical and radiation performance must be carefully considered to produce an optimized design for point-of-load applications. </para>