Radiation can cause severe degradation and, sometimes, destruction of critical microelectronics components.
Radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics is purposely engineered to provide increased protection or immunity under
harsh radiation conditions occurring in aerospace and defense applications, high energy physics research, and other
radiation environments. For less critical applications or environments, radiation-tolerant (rad-tolerant) electronics can
provide lighter yet adequate protection.
This document presents principles of basic radiation effects and radiation hardening relevant to semiconductor
integrated circuits, and outlines Alphacore’s capabilities to design and fabricate rad-hard components.
