Effects of Ionizing Radiation in Integrated Circuits

The composition and intensity of ionizing radiation heavily depends on the environment. Ionizing radiation is severe in space, but also terrestrial electronics must consider potential hazards e.g. radiation caused by energetic solar particle events. High energy protons, electrons and ions can lead to malfunction or damage of integrated circuits (IC). In this paper the dominant radiation effects to ICs are presented together with an overview of hardening techniques.