It's known that 30% of malfunctions in electronics used in the space industry are caused by cosmic radiation. Energy particles from cosmic radiation can collide with electronics and cause malfunctions. As components become more integrated, concerns about the effects of exposure grow. Therefore, the radiation resistance of components is a critical factor in space system design options.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) today announced the expansion of its COTS-based RT SuperFlash® family of products for space applications with a 64-Mbit serial quad I/O NOR Flash memory device featuring 50 Total Ionizing Dose (TID) tolerance utilizing the company's memory technology.

The device is designed for use in harsh aerospace and defense environments. Developers of spaceflight certification systems must reduce system development time, cost, and risk. Microchip Technology has proposed a concept of starting development with Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) devices and later replacing them with space-certified, radiation-tolerant (RT) components.

“The SST26LF064RT SuperFlash device provides industry-leading TID performance for a 64-Mbit serial quad I/O memory solution that works with all SRAM-based FPGAs in a variety of space applications,” said Bob Bampola, vice president of Microchip’s Aerospace and Defense Business Unit.

Microchip's SuperFlash NOR Flash memory products utilize a proprietary split-gate cell architecture to deliver superior performance, data retention, and reliability compared to conventional stacked-gate Flash. By eliminating the complexity of power management switching, these products enable Flash to be biased and achieve industry-leading TID, even when operating in systems such as satellite onboard computers or various controllers for motors, sensors, solar panels, and power distribution.

Microchip's RT SuperFlash technology, proven in industrial applications, is available as a parallel interface solution with the 64-Mbit SST38LF6401RT device, which is now space-qualified and available for in-flight use. Developers can now implement a 64-Mbit memory option with serial quad I/O with the new SST26LF064RT.

This product is accompanied by an application note that demonstrates how to use the serial 64Mbit SuperFlash device with Microchip's SST26LF064RT RT Flash Reference Evaluation Board and space-qualified SRAM-based FPGAs. Like Microchip's parallel SuperFlash memory, the serial SuperFlash option can also be used as configuration memory with other Microchip solutions, such as FPGAs or the Arm® Cortex®-M7-based SAMRH707 radiation-hardened microcontroller (MCU). This option can also be used with the RT PolarFire® FPGA for in-flight system reconfiguration.

“This new product is ideal for systems in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space satellite constellations or other harsh radiation environments that require companion flash memory to store critical software code or bitstreams that power the entire system,” said Bob Bampola, Vice President.