Characterizing commercial off-the-shelf electronics components for space applications

Radiation effects in the space environment is of particular concern to electronics, often causing them to fail either due to ionization or from particles directly damaging components through collision. The goal of the project is to study the radiation effects of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components such as solid-state drives (SSDs) and digital-to-analog converters (DAC) to evaluate their performance for use in space instrumentation. Demonstrating suitable radiation performance in modern commercial electronics will open the door to higher performance devices when compared to traditional radiation-hardened devices based on older technology. The Intern will use the Co-60 radiation chambers at the University of Saskatchewan and TRIUMF proton irradiation facility to screen variety of commercial electronics. The validated COTS components and the low-cost screening strategies will provide Xiphos with its significant opportunity to reduce the cost of next-generation avionics used in low Earth orbit by several orders of magnitude.

Faculty Supervisor:

Li Chen

Student:

Partner:

Xiphos System Corporate

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program: