Actel provides radiation test data to help customers design products for the high reliability market. Below are details of radiation performance data for customer use.
Total Ionizing Dose (TID) is caused by radiation due to charged particles and gamma rays in Space. This radiation deposits energy by causing ionization in the material. The ionization can change the charge excitation, charge transport, bonding, and decomposition properties of the material, and therefore, the device parameters. Total dose is the cumulative ionizing radiation that an electronic device receives over a specified period of time. The damage is dependant on the amount of radiation and how long it took to accumulate the total dose and is expressed in RAD (Radiation Absorbed Dose). Actel performs wafer lot specific TID testing per TM1019 of Mil-Std 883 class B. Test reports are posted here for customers' information. The results obtained do not constitute a guarantee that all units from each wafer lot will meet the TID levels observed in sample testing.
TID Reports
General Information
RTAX-S TID Reports
RTSX-S and RTSX-SU TID Reports
RT Legacy TID Reports
Note: TID reports are provided for information only and do not indicate availability of product from any specific wafer lot. Please contact your local Actel sales office for availability information on any specific wafer lot.
Radiation Effects
Ionizing radiation can cause unwanted effects in semiconductor devices. Energetic protons, neutrons, heavy ions, and alpha particles can strike sensitive regions of the transistor, causing various failures, or Single Event Effects (SEE), such as:
- Single Event Upsets (SEUs), which occur when high-energy ionizing particles, such as heavy ions, alpha particles or protons, irradiate a circuit or pass through an integrated circuit causing a disruption in the system logic.
- Single Event Latch-Up (SEL), which is a condition that causes loss of device functionality due to a single-event-induced high current state. A SEL may or may not cause permanent device damage, but requires power strobing of the device to resume normal device operations. Devices with low (< 37.5 MeV-cm2/mg) SEL LETth are considered unsuitable for space applications.
The SEU and SEL performance of Actel products are included in the radiation reports below:
SRAM cells are susceptible to neutron-induced errors, where they change state in an unpredictable and uncontrollable way. Since SRAM cells are used to control the configuration of SRAM-based FPGAs, a neutron-induced error could result in an unpredictable change in functionality of an SRAM-based FPGA.
For more information, visit the Soft/Firm Errors page.
General Information
Quality & Reliability Reports
High Reliablity White Papers
Information about radiation effects in semiconductors and, in particular, FPGAs is presented by a wide range of researchers, academia, and semiconductor suppliers in the conferences listed below:
