Rad-hard and rad-tolerant plastic packages prepare for deep space
Engineers can use new ADCs and power semiconductors from Texas Instruments to increase thermal efficiency and reduce system size and weight while meeting radiation and reliability requirements. The company has added radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant plastic packages for missions from new space to deep space.
TI developed a new device screening specification called space high-grade in plastic (SHP) for radiation-hardened products. It also introduced ADCs that meet the SHP qualification. At the same time, it introduced new product families to the radiation-tolerant Space Enhanced Plastic (Space EP) portfolio. Compared to traditional ceramic packages, plastic packages offer a smaller footprint that enables designers to reduce system-level size, weight and power, said the company.
Earlier space applications and programs used hermetically sealed, ceramic qualified manufacturers list (QML) Class V devices to ensure reliability. Today, applications like those in new space, which includes space programmes through to short-term missions in low earth orbit (LEO) are fuelling demand for smaller components that help reduce system size and weight. Plastic substrate ball grid array (PBGA) and plastic-encapsulated devices offer an alternative to traditional space semiconductor packages.
TI claimed that its Space EP portfolio is the industry’s largest plastic, radiation-tolerant power management and signal chain portfolio, with devices specifically designed for smaller, high-volume LEO satellite applications. Space EP devices can help save as much as 50 per cent of board space compared to traditional ceramic packages. They can also deliver high performance power supplies with rail-to-rail I/O operation.
The TPS7H5005-SEP family of pulse width modulation (PWM) controllers are the newest products in the Space EP portfolio. They support multiple power-supply topologies and field-effect transistor (FET) architectures. TPS7H5005-SEP PWM controllers minimise power loss through synchronous rectification, enabling at least five per cent higher power efficiency compared to equivalent devices. The new SHP ADCs improve thermal efficiency and increase bandwidth in a smaller size
TI’s SHP specification indicates ICs that meet the design requirements of deep space missions with extremely harsh environmental conditions. The SHP specification includes both PBGA and plastic-encapsulated packages for radiation-hardened semiconductors. The 10 x 10 x 1.9mm ADC12DJ5200-SP and ADC12QJ1600-SP ADCs in flip-chip BGA SHP packages are the first products from TI that meet the SHP specification.
These ADCs help enable designs as much as seven times smaller than those using equivalent ceramic-packaged devices, maximise data communication speeds with SerDes rates up to 17.1Gbits per second and reduce thermal resistance.
Space EP and SHP devices are available for purchase directly from TI and authorised distributors. Full and custom-quantity reels are available and manufacturers can select specific date and lot codes before placing an order. Each QML lot ships with a certificate of conformance – a quality conformance inspection and a processing conformance report summarising traceability and testing performed – per Military Performance Specification (MIL-PRF)-38535.
