Radiation-Resistant Power Circuits

Three radiation-hardened power circuits have been designed, fabricated, and tested. These semiconductor circuits, which typify functions found in advanced missile systems, are (1) a high-voltage, 100-watt d.c.-to-d.c. converter, (2) a 50-kHz, 10-watt modulator or chopper, and (3) a 250-watt power switch. All circuits were specifically designed for extreme hardness to nuclear radiation environments and have been proven hard to 5 x 1011 rads(Si)/sec and neutron fluences up to 3 x 1014 n/cm2 (E>10 kev).