A modified accelerated testing method of ELDRS in extreme-low dose rate irradiation

Low dose rate radiation induced gain degradation in bipolar devices is considered to be the primary threat to the spacecraft reliability and service life. In order to examine the radiation tolerance of bipolar devices, it is recommended to use 10 m rad(Si)/s as the typical dose rate in the standards MIL-STD-883G. There is lack of solid study to prove the dose rate is sufficient enough low. Our latest experiment results showed that the enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) effects was not saturated at 10 m rad(Si)/s. To examine the reliability of bipolar devices in extreme low dose rate environment below 10 m rad(Si)/s in short time, we proposed a modified accelerated testing method of ELDRS effects in extreme-low dose rate irradiation based on elevated temperature irradiation and temperature-switching during irradiation, which is helpful to get quantified results in the whole low dose rate range.