Effect of Analog Built-in Self Test (BIST) on a Flash Analog-to-Digital Converter's (ADC) Radiation Effects Behavior

"Built In Self Test (BIST) must be used to mitigate the continuous increase in complexity in systems on a chip (SOC). BIST can, however, affect the way in which a circuit responds to a radiation, including the power drain through photocurrents. BIST cantherefore influence the "rail-span collapse" threshold, known to be a dominant failure mechanism of CMOS circuitry under prompt, or dose rate events.Ridgetop proposes to quantify the effect of the mixed signal and prognostic BIST on the radiation vulnerability of a high speed flash Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). It intends to study the failure mechanisms that are activated by total dose, singleevent effect and dose rate (prompt) radiation incident on the circuit by simulation, followed by verification using a manufactured prototype. A set of guidelines (design and layout rules) will be formulated to ensure radiation tolerance to a specifiedlevel. The design rules will be verified by fabricating the circuit and its BIST structures in its original and modified configuration. The final deliverable will be a rule checker software tool that interfaces with Spice netlists and GDSII layout filesto ensure maximum compatibility with existing EDA tools. Circuit design measures to mitigate radiation effects in mixed signal circuits will be of interest for military electronics designs, as well as for nuclear and space civilian applications. The resulting rule checker will be incorporated