Extreme Temperature, Rad-Hard Power Management ASIC

Ridgetop Group will design a rad-hard Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for spacecraft power management that is functional over a temperature range of -230 to +130 oC. This ASIC is intended to work in conjunction with a Fuel Cell power system and battery back-up to provide uninterrupted power to critical modules in Space. Ridgetop will combine Radiation Hardening (RH) techniques with Large Scale Integration (LSI) methodologies to build a power management system for spacecraft applications onto a single monolithic circuit. The significance of this innovation is a single reliable component (ASIC) that will meet platform requirements for high voltage, wide operating temperature range, and radiation tolerance (minimum 100 krads Total Ionizing Doze (TID), 100 MeVcm2/mg Single Event Latchup (SEL). During phase 1, we will select two functional blocks from within a representative NASA power management system as test cases. Designs for these blocks will be developed and validated through SPICE circuit and radiation simulations, using technology files provided by a commercial foundry. In phase 2, Ridgetop will deliver working prototype integrated circuits (ICs) that meet and exceed the above requirements. More »