Single Event Effects in Modern COTS DC-DC Buck Converter ICs and Their Influence on the Safe Operating Area

The increase of lower class satellite missions and the reduction of space launch costs increase the need for performant and affordable electronics with a short lead time. This leads to the increasing demand for Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) component usage in Space. Especially the selection of DC-DC buck converters is highly important considering their sensitivity to Destructive Single Event Effects which can lead to the loss of the regulated load or even a short on the power bus. In this paper, multiple modern COTS DC-DC buck converter ICs with integrated power MOSEFTs are tested against SEEs and their usability in Space is evaluated. Devices from various manufacturers and with different maximum input voltages were chosen. First promising results were gathered and therefore the derating capability as well as the overall SEE sensitivity is evaluated for these given COTS buck converters in Space. SEE testing showed not only DSEEs but also overvoltage conditions at the load as well as multiple Single Event Functional Interrupts and for some devices Single Event Latch-ups, all of which need consideration depending on their application in Space.