Design and Testing of Electronic Devices for Harsh Environments

This thesis reports an overview and the main results of the research activity carried out within the PhD programme in Information Engineering of the University of Pisa (2010-2012). The research activity has been focused on different fields, including Automotive and High Energy Physics experiments, according to a common denominator: the development of electroni c devices and systems operating in harsh environments. There are many applications that forc e the adoption of design methodologies and strategies focused on this type of envir onments: military, biom edical, automotive, industrial and space. The development of solutions fulfilling specific operational requirements, therefore represents an interesting field of research. The first research activity has been framed within the ATHENIS project, funded by the CORDIS Commission of the European Community, and aiming at the development of a System-on-Chip, a r egulator for alternators employed on vehicles, presenting both configurability an d the ability to work at the harshest operating conditions of the automotive industry. Specifically, a novel Intelligent Power Switch has been conceived, capable of driving different kind of loads, such as incandescent bulbs and LED, showing a high level of flexibility and adaptability to the most extreme operating conditions. Several features have been integrated, including current limitation, voltage regul ation, reverse polar ity and over-voltage capability, control of current slope, combi ned with strategies as over-current and over-temperature protection, that hav e required the design of an innovative architecture. The first test-chip, realized in AMS CMOS High Voltage 0,35 μm technology, has been validated thanks to the development of a dedicated test-bed, which has allowed the deep characterization of the dev ice, proving its excellent performance. The second branch of research has been carried out within the FF-LYNX project, which has involved the section of Pisa of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the Department of Physics of the University of Calif ornia Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The aim of this multidisciplinary project has been the def inition of a protocol for the distribution of Timing, Trigger and Control signals and for the readout in High Energy Physics experiments. In particular, the focus of t he activity has been the implementation of the protocol into Transmitter-Receiver in terfaces within the test-chip FF-TC1, realized in IBM CMOS 130 nm technology. During this phase, novel radiation hardening techniques have been studied and implemented in order to ensure the proper functioning in operating environments with a high level of radiation, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva. Besides that, an emulator for functional validation of the FF-LYNX protocol has been developed, embedded on the XpressGXII PLDA board, equipped with PCI-Express to interface with a host PC. An additional activity has required the modification of the emulator as a test- bed for the test-chip FF-TC1, allowing the ex ecution of extensive functional tests. Finally, irradiation tests hav e been performed at the X-rays facility at CERN, which have demonstrated the good yield of t he radiation hardening techniques implemented