Parallel light configuration that increases the radiation tolerance of integrated circuits

Total ionizing dose tolerances of current integrated circuits are limited to 3–10 kGy because semiconductor devices are fundamentally vulnerable to radiation. However, using programmable architecture, the total ionizing dose tolerances of integrated circuits can be increased if the integrated circuits can be repaired each time a permanent failure occurs. Nevertheless, current programmable devices cannot allow such repairable use because their serial programming functions fail immediately, even if only a few transistors on the devices are damaged. To increase the radiation tolerance of integrated circuits, this paper presents a proposal of a new optoelectronic programmable device with a parallel light configuration architecture instead of current field programmable gate arrays which have a serial configuration architecture. This demonstration confirms 1.9 MGy radiation tolerance on an optoelectronic programmable device using a non-radiation-hardened standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor process.