NSUF 24-4881: Irradiation of GaN HEMTs and SiC JFETs for Near Core Rad-hard Electronics

Developing radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics that can operate reliably within a near- or in-core environment can improve nuclear reactor safety and operational efficiency through early pre-amplification, analog and digital signal processing, and analog-to-digital conversion. Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors offer a potential solution to rad- hard by offering increased temperature and radiation resistance, higher voltage and current limits, and faster switching. Two WBG semiconductor of interest are gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), both of which have shown high temperature and ionizing radiation tolerance. This project focuses on testing samples of WBG transistors under reactor operation at the Ohio State University (OSU)-Nuclear Reactor Laboratory (NRL) to better understand the mixed gamma/neutron effects and limitations for rad-hard circuit design. Irradiation experiments with in situ measurements are needed to confirm and map device performance with high radiation (>1 MGy; 10^16 n/cm^2) of existing commercial GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and SiC junction-gate field-effect transistor (JFET) technology. Furthermore, irradiation experiments with in situ measurements are needed to discover the neutron limits and behavior of OSU research-grade GaN HEMTs to 10^18 n/cm^2 or failure. If successful the OSU research grade devices will be the first transistors (to the authors’ knowledge) that have remained operational beyond 10^17 n/cm^2. The OSU-NRL offers unique capability for easy in situ measurement and monitoring of electrical devices both using their in-core accelerated irradiation facility (AIF) and near-core 9.5” dry well facility (DWF). The in situ measurement capability of the OSU-NRL offers the opportunity to monitor the device performance over increasing doses as opposed to the traditional “cook-and-look” approach typically performed with only post-irradiation characteristics. For the two concurrent irradiations, the team will characterize transistor performance using current-voltage (I-V) measurements of more than 16 selected devices. The measurements will be performed using an existing Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) designed data acquisition system composed of source measure units (SMUs) and programmable reed relays. After irradiation, post-irradiation examination will be performed using SMU or a semiconductor parameter analyzer. The electrical characterizations of the transistors will be used to develop compact circuit models (Verilog-A or SPICE) which will include the effects of radiation degradation, valuable data for DOE NE programs.

Dodatne informacije

Polje	Vrednost
Award Announced Date	2024-02-02T12:35:14.723
Awarded Institution	Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Facility Tech Lead	Raymond Cao
Irradiation Facility	Ohio State University Research Reactor
PI	Nance Ericson
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	None