eBook: Packaging: The First Line of Defense for Space Electronics

Space exposes electronics to a relentless radiation environment. Radiation-hardened chips are designed to deal with everything from constant bombardment by cosmic rays and sudden spikes in radiation caused by solar flares. Total ionizing dose (TID) and single-event effects (SEE) can cause malfunctions, corrupt data, and permanently disable electronic devices. But hardening devices at the die level, particularly in power electronics, is only part of the solution.

Packaging is also a critical part of the system’s defenses. The chip’s enclosure needs to be robust enough to protect the device against radiation and withstand the mechanical vibrations, thermal shocks, and other harsh conditions when rocketing into space. For satellites that can remain in orbit for decades or deployed into deep space for years, packaging can be as important to reliability as the silicon inside.

Hermetically sealed, ceramic packages have long been the gold standard for space chips, giving them the ability to handle the rigors of space for long durations. But while these tightly sealed packages dominate in deep-space and other high-reliability systems, companies are also developing space-qualified plastic packages to dramatically cut weight, size, and cost for “new space” systems, including in-orbit data centers and mega-constellations of satellites.

Rad-hard packaging is also becoming more densely integrated, with heterogeneous integration and multichip modules being used to improve size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) metrics. At the same time, new packaging approaches and more advanced thermal interface materials (TIMs) are tackling one of space electronics’ most stubborn problems: removing heat from the vacuum of space. 

From geostationary orbit (GEO) to low earth orbit (LEO), this series of technical articles examines how packaging is becoming a critical factor for power semiconductors and other space-bound electronics.