Professor Mike Alles of Vanderbilt University delivered this lecture for the Introduction to Radiation Effects Engineering online SCALE course.
Radiation effects in modern microelectronics have become a critical concern as device architectures evolve from monolithic chips toward heterogeneously integrated and packaged systems. The convergence of sensors, processors, and memory onto a single substrate expands functionality for automotive, space, and high‑temperature applications, but it also introduces new reliability challenges when those systems operate in extreme environments. Understanding how ionizing and non‑ionizing radiation interacts with the underlying semiconductor and insulator materials is therefore essential for designing robust electronics.
The presentation reviews the fundamental material classes—semiconductors, insulators, and conductors—and examines how radiation deposits energy through ionizing processes (characterized by linear energy transfer, LET) and non‑ionizing energy loss (NIEL). It distinguishes transient phenomena such as single‑event effects (SEE), including single‑event upsets, transients, latch‑up, and burnout, from cumulative mechanisms like total ionizing dose (TID) and displacement damage that alter device parameters over time. Device physics of bipolar junction transistors and metal‑oxide‑semiconductor field‑effect transistors is linked to radiation‑induced charge generation in active regions and gate oxides, while the hierarchy from material interaction to system‑level manifestation is illustrated for heterogeneous integrations such as camera‑on‑chip modules.
Armed with this knowledge, learners can explain how radiation couples to semiconductor and insulator materials, identify the spectrum of radiation‑induced effects that may arise in heterogeneously integrated microelectronics, and compare transient versus cumulative damage mechanisms. They also acquire the ability to describe single‑event effects and assess their impact on both digital logic—through state changes and soft errors—and analog circuits, where transients can disrupt phase‑locked loops or cause latch‑up, thereby informing design decisions and mitigation strategies for space, automotive, and terrestrial high‑reliability applications.