Characterizing commercial off-the-shelf electronics components for space applications

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Radiation effects in the space environment is of particular concern to electronics, often causing them to fail either due to ionization or from particles directly damaging components through collision. The goal of the partnership is to study the radiation effects of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components such as solid-state drives (SSDs) and digital-to-analog converters (DAC) to evaluate their performance for use in space instrumentation where high reliability is required. Space radiation effects on electronics are primarily mitigated by using radiation-hardened components. These components are designed using a variety of techniques including changing the manufacturing materials and implementing redundant elements inside the device, which results in a more expensive part. Consumer-grade and automotive-grade COTS components utilize mass production methods to lower the costs. In addition, current commercial designs are generally more tolerant to TID effects due to the fabrication technologies and advanced device structures. Demonstrating suitable radiation performance in modern commercial electronics will open the door to higher performance devices when compared to traditional radiation-hardened devices based on older technology. This research project will use the Co60 radiation chambers at the University of Saskatchewan and TRIUMF radiation test facility to screen variety of commercial electronics. The low dose rate Co-60 chamber will provide the capability of evaluating the sensitivity to enhanced low dose rate effects, and the proton beams at TRIUMF will be used to evaluate the single event effects of the components. The validated COTS components and the low-cost screening strategies will provide Xiphos with its most significant opportunity to reduce the cost of next-generation avionics used in low Earth orbit by several orders of magnitude. This research project will enable Canadian aerospace companies like Xiphos to reduce the cost of their avionics units by shifting from space grade parts to automotive grade parts without suffering a substantive reduction in reliability or longevity.