Electromagnetic emission of integrated circuits induced by ionizing radiation and its measurement uncertainties

In this article, we show the change of electromagnetic emission (EME) of integrated circuits (ICs) and their external circuitry induced by the presence of ionizing radiation. We use the 150 Ohm method according to IEC 61967‑4 to characterize the conducted emission of our tested integrated circuit (IC) at the VDD pin. Simultaneously to measuring the electromagnetic emission, we irradiate the IC with X‑rays. The irradiation process is carried out up to a dose of 5 Mrad using a high-power X‑ray radiation source. The electromagnetic emission spectra are retrieved before, during and after the irradiation process. We also show that special caution regarding radio frequency (RF) measurements must be used when performing combined testing. Therefore, we analyze the composition of measurement uncertainties of electromagnetic compatibility in combination with ionizing radiation hardness characterization. This article contains measurement results showing the negative impact of ionizing radiation on the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of an IC. Additionally we provide measures to ensure properly combined measurements of EME and ionizing radiation. Therefore we show how to reduce the electromagnetic interference originating from the high-voltage generator that is necessary to generate X‑rays.