Spirit Electronics adds zero-error systems for space applications

ZES’s proprietary solutions include radiation-hardened by design (RHBD) library cells; latchup detection and protection (LDAP) in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts; and power management redundancy solutions as die, packaged ICs, or licensed IP and design services.

“ZES is providing critical mission assurance through an innovative approach,” explains Spirit CEO Marti McCurdy. “Spirit’s commercial space customers often turn to COTS for lower-cost and readily available ICs and semiconductors, but those components lack radiation resiliency. ZES is a low-cost method to integrate radiation protection and guarantee mission performance from low-Earth orbit all the way out to deep space.”

Zero-Error Systems reliability covers a full range of space applications including satellites in various levels of Earth orbits, launch vehicles, lunar missions, and deep space missions. ZES technology has flown on several legacy flights in space, and the ZES team has more than 30 years of industry experience in ultra-high reliability power semiconductor design. The company originates in Singapore and operates an office in Vienna, Virginia. Spirit is the first U.S.-based distributor for ZES, opening an avenue for made-in-the-USA rad-hard semiconductor solutions.

Spirit is uniquely positioned to offer ZES RHBD and LDAP paired with Spirit’s foundry services, ASIC programs, and assembly services. Spirit supports each step of the IC supply chain from foundry to chip packaging, reliability testing, and assembly. ZES RHBD library cells achieve ultra-low soft-error performance with low power operations, low delay, and small area to increase processing and system reliability. RHBD can be integrated into standard front-end and back-end design flows in any foundry process. The ZES LDAP technology detects and protects COTS ICs from single event latch-up (SEL). The LDAP technology is able to detect SEL at onset and has a rapid response time immune to aging and total ionising dose (TID).

“Radiation protection is your insurance policy for your space mission, and our space customers must decide what level of insurance they need for success. ZES allows us to customise that coverage by applying rad-hard protections to critical components or extending it to all COTS components. For commercial space, this approach preserves low-cost agile design and production while maximising reliability,” concludes McCurdy.