A review of SiGe BiCMOS devices for ocean worlds exploration: Leveraging SiGe HBT and pFET devices

Space exploration to “Ocean World” environments, such as Europa, that seek to find biosignatures of extraterrestrial life requires robust and reliable electronics for sensing, data processing, motor/actuator control, and communication. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components are designed for commercial or military-spec (milspec) temperature ranges. Wide-temperature applications require a shielded “Warm Electronics Box (WEB)” to keep COTS components operational. However, COTS components are also designed with little to no regard for radiation tolerance. In addition, size, weight, and power constraints may limit the use of “WEB” based approaches. Electronic system designs must be tailored to the extreme conditions under which they will operate. The presence of extreme cold temperatures and high radiation adversely affects the parameters of CMOS and bipolar junction transistor devices over time, compromising the reliability of electronic systems. This paper reviews device performance degradation issues induced by extreme cold and high-ionizing irradiation and promotes a strategic circuit design philosophy that exclusively uses silicon germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors and silicon P-channel MOSFETs to capitalize on their favorable performances in cryogenic and high-radiation environments.