NSUF 24-5077: In-Operando Performance Characterization of On-Chip Integrated SiC Pressure/Temperature Sensors under Irradiation

NASA and DOE are developing a 40-kW Lunar Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Missions (FSP-TDM) reactor that, if successful, would serve as a frontier to future nuclear reactor deployment on planet Mars. The primary goal is to support future long-duration human habitation and scientific research on the Moon and Mars. The lunar FSP reactor would be compact unmanned with an envisioned 10-year operational life. Clearly, extraterrestrial maintenance would be a major burden; hence, any component repair or replacement tasks should be minimized to the extent possible–including instrumentation. Pressure sensing is one of the most commonly used measurements in complex processes. While piezoresistive transduction is employed in commercially available products, nevertheless, typical deployment approach is to rely on impulse lines to separate out the instrument from the process environment, i.e., temperature, chemistry, radiation, etc. This approach works; however, it creates a network of new “plumbing,” which creates new failure modes. These issues are discussed extensively in the NRC Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.151 Instrument Sensing Lines. This proposal will investigate, for the first time, real-time performance of NASA-developed and patented on-chip integrated 4H-SiC piezoresistive pressure/temperature sensors under irradiation while subjected to controlled pressure transients at different temperatures. The proposed activity is a critical element in a series of systematic activities that form part of a technology development and deployment roadmap for an advanced sensor concept based on a wide-bandgap semiconductor platform. Utilization of these platforms for sensing has so far been limited to neutron flux or gamma measurements in radiation fields. To the best of our knowledge, this experiment will be a first to observe the performance of a SiC-based pressure transducer (physical principle of operation is a strain gauge) in such environments. The proposed scope is strategic, in that, it represents a critical step in establishing a technical basis before embarking on comprehensive physics-of-failure investigations for qualification of these devices for the environment. In other words, the outcome of this investigation will inform subsequent decision stages for adoption of this technology. The proposed irradiation at controlled pressure and temperature provides direct evidence into their operation in radiation environments. More importantly, per the proposed experiment plan, we expect to determine at which field strength the transducer becomes inoperable. This information will be useful in determining the operating limits of a packaged instrument.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Award Announced Date	2024-08-15T09:38:58.24
Awarded Institution	NASA Glenn Research Center
Facility Tech Lead	Gordon Kohse
Irradiation Facility	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
PI	Robert Okojie
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	None