Single-event transients in LC-tank VCO

Abstract

The responses of a LC-tank VCO to single-event transients (SET) are investigated. The phase noise at 1 MHz offset is -117 dBc/Hz at the carrier frequency of 1.56 GHz. The circuit-level simulation results indicate that ion strikes on critical transistors cause distortions in the oscillating output. A new radiation hardened by design (RHBD) method, adding a discharge path and a decoupling resistor to the bias circuit, is demonstrated to be an effective way to mitigate the effect of SET to the VCO.