Development of a Radiation-Hardened Lateral Power MOSFET for POL Applications

The radiation response of lateral power MOSFETs in total dose and energetic particle environments is explored. Results indicate that lateral power MOSFETs can be quite susceptible to single-event burnout. Tradeoffs involved in developing radiation hardened lateral power MOSFETs for point-of-load applications are studied using experiments and device simulations. Both design and fabrication process techniques can be used to significantly improve the single-event effect performance of lateral power MOSFETs, but the trade space between electrical and radiation performance must be carefully considered to produce an optimized design for point-of-load applications.