Proton radiation response of SiGe HBT analog and RF circuits and passives

Abstract

We present the first experimental results of the effects of 63-MeV proton irradlation on SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) analog and radio-frequency (RF) circuits and passive elements. A SiGe HBT bandgap reference circuit, commonly used to generate stable on-chip voltages in analog ICs, a SiGe HBT voltage-controlled oscillator, a key building block for RF transceivers, and an LC bandpass filter routinely used in RF circuit design were each irradiated to proton fluences as high as 5 × 10 13 p/cm 2. The degradation associated with these extreme proton fluences was found to be minimal, suggesting that SiGe HBT technology is robust for these types of circuit applications.