Heavy ion impact on narrow band cascoded low noise amplifier

The impact of heavy ion strike on a cascoded narrow band low noise amplifier (LNA) is analyzed in this work using numerical device simulations. The impact is analyzed in the time as well as the frequency domains. The LNA uses 45 nm channel length MOSFETs. The most vulnerable portion of the most vulnerable device is chosen for irradiation study. As a part of the study, the influence of the source degeneration inductor of the LNA on single event impact is analyzed. The collected charge due to single event transient current reflects the severity of the radiation strike, and the same is taken as the performance metric in the study. It was found that the larger value of source degeneration inductor mitigates the SET impact but it trades off with the gain and noise figure of the LNA.