How is Flexfet radiation tolerant?
A. Flexfet is an SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) process. SOI is inherently immune to Single Event Latchup (SEL). The ultra-thin SOI silicon of Flexfet reduces the collection area for charged particles and therefore dramatically improves SEE performance including reduction in Single Event Upset (SEU) and Single Event Transients (SET). Standard SOI transistors do have problems with TID (Total Ionizing Dose) due to charge trapped in the BOX (Buried Oxide). Flexfet’s Independently Double Gated design mitigates TID effects since the bottom gate effectively shields the channel from trapped charge in the BOX.
