Single-Event Effect Characterization of 16 GHz Phase-Locked Loop in Sub-20 nm FinFET Technology

• Published in: IEEE transactions on nuclear science Vol. 71; no. 9; pp. 2077 - 2085
• Main Authors: Sun, Hanhan, Wu, Zirui, Luo, Deng, Liang, Bin, Chen, Jianjun, Chi, Yaqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.09.2024; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Clocks; Energy transfer; FinFET technology; Frequency dividers; heavy ion experiments; Heavy ions; Inductors; Jitter; Latches; Linear energy transfer (LET); Phase frequency detectors; Phase locked loops; Phase noise; phase-locked loop (PLL); pulsed laser testing; Pulsed lasers; Sensitivity; Single Event Effects; single-event effects (SEEs); Varactors; Voltage control; Voltage controlled oscillators
• ISSN: 0018-9499; 1558-1578
• DOI: 10.1109/TNS.2024.3434398

This article proposes a radiation-tolerant phase-locked loop (PLL) for space-based applications. The proportional and integral path is proposed to mitigate the single-event effects (SEEs) sensitivity. An LC-tank voltage-controlled oscillator (LC-VCO) with optimized varactors and a custom inductor achieves an 8.9-16.8 GHz tuning range and −108.62 dBc/Hz phase noise (PN) at a 1 MHz offset from a 16 GHz carrier. The custom dual interlocked cell (DICE)-based flip-flops and latches have been employed in phase frequency detector (PFD) and frequency divider chains to enhance SEE tolerance. The circuit is processed in sub-20 nm FinFET technology. The jitter measurements of the testing postdivided clock (3.2 GHz) are less than 700 fs and 2 ps for the random and deterministic jitters (Djs), respectively, when the VCO oscillates at 16 GHz. SEE sensitivities have been characterized by heavy ions with a linear energy transfer (LET) from 16.6 to 97.9 MeV/cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">^{2}\cdot \text { mg} </tex-math></inline-formula> and pulsed laser up to 1.8 nJ laser energy.