Infineon Technologies announced the availability of the space industry's first radiation-hardened (rad-hard) serial interface ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) for extreme environments.
The new devices offer unmatched reliability and data retention and are more power efficient than non-volatile EEPROM devices and serial NOR flash for space applications.
The addition of QML-V qualified F-RAM to Infineon's memory portfolio brings the benefits of near-infinite endurance, non-volatile instant-write technology, and 100+ year data retention to space applications.
As a direct replacement for serial NOR flash and EEPROMs, rad-hard F-RAM is ideal for mission-critical data logging, telemetry storage, as well as command and control calibration data storage. The new device is also ideal for providing boot code storage solutions for microcontrollers, FPGAs and ASICs.
Support for the industry-standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol improves ease of use and supports a smaller footprint and lower pin count. Serial protocols are increasingly used in space and satellite applications, with several vendors now offering space-grade processors, FPGAs, and SPI-capable ASICs.
“Newly introduced rad-hard F-RAM devices have superior write capabilities at lower power requirements than alternatives and support system designs with fewer components, better performance and without compromising reliability,” said Helmut Puchner, VP Aerospace and Defense Fellow at Infineon. “We look forward to bringing more industry news to the space market.”
The 2 Mb density F-RAM with SPI is the first in its family of rad-hard non-volatile F-RAMs. The devices have virtually infinite durability without wear leveling, with 10 trillion read/write cycles and 120 years of data retention at 85°C — across an operating voltage range of 2.0 to 3.6 V.
The lowest operating current is 10 mA maximum with an extremely low programming voltage of 2 V.
Rad hard F-RAMs are also suitable for avionics and other applications that require military-standard temperature grades ranging from -55° to 125° C. Additional features include a small footprint with 16-inch ceramic SOP packaging.
DLAM QML-V qualified devices have superior radiation performance of:
- TID: >150 Krad (Si)
- SEL: >114 MeV·cm 2 /mg @115°C
- YOURS: Immune
- SEFI: <1.34 * 10-4 err/day dev.
