Investigation of single-event transients in voltage-controlled oscillators

Author

Chen, Wenjian ; Pouget, Vincent ; Barnaby, Hugh J. ; Cressler, John D. ; Niu, Guofu ; Fouillat, Pascal ; Deval, Yann ; Lewis, Dean

Author_Institution

Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

Volume

50

Issue

6

fYear

2003

Firstpage

2081

Lastpage

2087

Abstract

The responses of voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) to single-event transients (SETs) are investigated. Laser testing and simulations indicate that ion strikes on critical transistors cause distortions in the oscillating output. The time it takes for the circuit to resume its normal operating condition is limited by the recovery time of the affected transistor(s) and the oscillator startup time. These limits to circuit recovery time are the primary causes of the frequency dependence of SET responses in VCOs.

Keywords

heterojunction bipolar transistors; radiation hardening (electronics); voltage-controlled oscillators; SET responses; VCOs; circuit recovery time; critical transistors; frequency dependence; laser testing; normal operating condition; oscillating output; oscillator startup time; single-event transients; voltage-controlled oscillators; Analog circuits; Circuit simulation; Circuit testing; Germanium silicon alloys; Laser noise; Nonlinear distortion; Phase locked loops; Radio frequency; Silicon germanium; Voltage-controlled oscillators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2003.820766

Filename

1263845