Radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened components used in space systems must meet stringent radiation, temperature, and mechanical tests in order to succeed in mission-critical applications. Along with resilience, long-term cost effectiveness is one of the advantages of radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened devices, as their use reduces the risk of mission failures and guarantees against the need for replacement and repair.

MUNICH. Infineon Technologies announced the first of a new family of radiation-hardened (rad-hard) gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, aimed at use in harsh space environments.

As space becomes the next domain for weapons and military threats, designers of radiation-hardened electronics are seeing more requirements for greater radiation-resistant components. In this conversation with Sean D’Arcy, Senior Director, Aerospace and Defense/IR HR at Infineon Technologies and Josh Broline, Senior Director of Marketing and Applications at Renesas, we discuss this challenge as well as the hottest applications for military space, the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, and if open architectures may be leveraged in spacecraft designs.

Beamforming and beam-steering technologies used in military applications have seen significant advances, especially when coupled with the emergence of 5G communications and commercial space data communications. This progress led to the introduction of active electronically scanned array (AESA) and/or phased-array systems, which are now more affordable and available in full digital and/or hybrid configuration. The majority of the active spectrum is now covered by these systems, making them suitable for use in radar, electronic warfare (EW), and various military communications systems.

Munich, Germany – 14 April 2022 – Infineon Technologies LLC, part of Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY), today announced the availability of the space industry’s first radiation-hardened (rad hard), serial interface Ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) for extreme environments. The new devices deliver unsurpassed reliability and data retention and are more energy efficient than non-volatile EEPROM and serial NOR Flash devices for space applications.