Comment Re:Huh? Flash? (Score 2, Informative) 386
They don't. See DoD Bids About 3/4 of the way down the page.
Title: Rad Hard Flash Technology Abstract: The highest density radiation hardened non-volatile (NV) memory currently available is a 256 kbit EEPROM based on SONOS technology. One of the major limitations in developing rad hard NV memory has been the cost in bringing up the NV technology in a dedicated rad hard process facility, especially when weighed against the limited market size. One way to bring radiation hardening to an advanced electronic product on a cost-effective basis is to leverage the commercial product by applying the hardening to the commercial fab instead of bringing the commercial technology to the rad hard fab. NV flash memory technology is popular in the commercial marketplace, with densities up to 256 Mbit in production. Unfortunately, flash memory is not available, at any density, in total dose rad hard versions. And, most commercial flash memories are so soft that impractical amounts of shielding are required to survive even moderate radiation environments. This effort will be the first step in developing rad hard flash technology at a commercial fab. Rad hard flash technology will be a near-term solution to the problem of high density NV memory for space applications. It will enable the development of rad hard flash memories and embedded NV memory for rad hard ASICs.
Flash...the weakest link...
Title: Rad Hard Flash Technology Abstract: The highest density radiation hardened non-volatile (NV) memory currently available is a 256 kbit EEPROM based on SONOS technology. One of the major limitations in developing rad hard NV memory has been the cost in bringing up the NV technology in a dedicated rad hard process facility, especially when weighed against the limited market size. One way to bring radiation hardening to an advanced electronic product on a cost-effective basis is to leverage the commercial product by applying the hardening to the commercial fab instead of bringing the commercial technology to the rad hard fab. NV flash memory technology is popular in the commercial marketplace, with densities up to 256 Mbit in production. Unfortunately, flash memory is not available, at any density, in total dose rad hard versions. And, most commercial flash memories are so soft that impractical amounts of shielding are required to survive even moderate radiation environments. This effort will be the first step in developing rad hard flash technology at a commercial fab. Rad hard flash technology will be a near-term solution to the problem of high density NV memory for space applications. It will enable the development of rad hard flash memories and embedded NV memory for rad hard ASICs.
Flash...the weakest link...
