JD'S Memes

JDMeister said:
Northrop Grumman won an $18.1 million contract in April, and RadiaBeam won a $10.6 million for Advanced Sources for Single-event Effect Radiation Testing (ASSERT) project of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va. The 4.5-year ASSERT program seeks develop new capabilities for SEE testing of 3D heterogeneously integrated (3DHI) electronic components and circuits, and transform today's radiation-hardened electronics design process to enable rapid deployment of next-generation electronics for space and nuclear warfare applications.

Goals for Northrop Grumman and RadiaBeam include generating energetic particles with penetration as deep as 5 millimeters in silicon with high-radiation-relevant linear energy transfers and beam diameters of less than 0.2 microns. Northrop Grumman and RadiaBeam engineers will take-on one ASSERT program technical area for 3DHI radiation-hardened technologies which addresses two technical challenges: deep penetration depths in 3DHI components with space-radiation linear energy transfers; and charge tracks with fine spatial resolution. Proposals must respond to both technical challenges.

Radiation effects threaten electronic systems from three main natural sources: galactic cosmic rays; charged particles trapped by planetary magnetic fields; and solar particle events.

Emerging advanced electronics are complex and integrated than previous generations, and can combine digital, analog, and optical functions using 3D topologies and several material types. 3D components are expected to reach several millimeters in vertical extent with a complexity and level of integration that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to de-package and disaggregate into parts to perform radiation testing using current heavy-ion sources.

SEE testing of integrated components will require an irradiation source that provides a combination of multi-millimeter penetration depths, space-radiation-relevant linear energy transfers, and fine spatial resolution and control to provide the linear and angular precision necessary to probe sensitive areas and to isolate faults.

Current SEE testing is unable to meet all of these requirements simultaneously, necessitating new sources to qualify next-generation microelectronics for nuclear and space applications that require high reliability in radiation environments.

The process of testing with ion beams is slow and laborious, and problems worsen with the increasing complexity of electronics. As a result, ASSERT sources must be compact and cost-effective so they can be incorporated into the development process.

In this way, radiation qualification will be integrated throughout the design and fabrication flow, with ASSERT sources providing the means to identify radiation design flaws rapidly and to facilitate swift correction and design optimizations. A key program goal is to reduce the time from design to radiation-qualified component by a factor of 10. DARPA researchers particularly are interested in technologies like short-pulse relativistic electron beams and ultrashort pulse X-rays.
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HUH?!?!?!?!???? :classic_laugh:

 
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