A SiC-based Microcontroller for High-Temperature In-Situ Instruments and Systems, Phase I

NASA has a need for electronics that can support proposed flagship missions such as a Venus surface lander. Devices that can operate at temperatures of up to 500°C are desired. Ozark IC and its partner, the University of Arkansas, have created the world's largest known library of CMOS silicon-carbide (SiC) analog and mixed-signal circuits, intellectual property (IP) and packages that can operate at very high temperatures. The key next component is a general-purpose SiC microcontroller to provide real-time programmability for these SiC support circuits. This Phase I proposal will use the extensive Ozark IC SiC library to develop a self-contained general-purpose SiC-CMOS microcontroller. When combined with data converters, gate drivers and other analog/mixed-signal circuitry, this microcontroller could serve in any number of high-temperature sample acquirement and analysis instruments. More »