Professor Dan Fleetwood of Vanderbilt University delivered this lecture for the Introduction to Radiation Effects Engineering online SCALE course.
Moore’s Law describes the exponential increase in transistor count and corresponding reduction in cost per component that has driven microelectronics for more than five decades, shaping everything from consumer devices to high‑performance supercomputers. As feature sizes shrink, the interaction between ionizing radiation and semiconductor devices becomes increasingly critical, influencing reliability in space, nuclear, and high‑energy environments. Understanding this interplay is essential for engineers who must balance performance gains with radiation‑hardening requirements.
The presentation examines the quantitative relationship between transistor scaling and radiation effects, focusing on total ionizing dose (TID) and single‑event effects (SEE) as they evolve across successive technology generations. It details how the channel length of metal‑oxide‑semiconductor (MOS) transistors has been reduced from micrometer to nanometer dimensions, altering charge collection mechanisms and susceptibility to displacement damage. Comparative data illustrate the escalation of SEE cross‑sections and the diminishing TID tolerance as devices approach the sub‑10 nm regime, while also highlighting the economic and physical limits that may curb further scaling. The discussion incorporates references to the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society’s conferences and notes emerging paradigms—such as optical, quantum, and DNA‑based computing—that are motivated by the same scaling pressures.
Armed with this knowledge, learners can articulate how Moore’s Law scaling modulates radiation effects on microelectronics and critically compare TID and SEE behavior across technology nodes. They are equipped to evaluate the constraints that radiation imposes on future scaling trajectories and to identify emerging computing technologies that arise as a direct response to these scaling challenges. This insight supports informed design decisions for radiation‑tolerant systems and guides research directions in next‑generation computing architectures.