When exposed to radiation, many electronic components become damaged and operate incorrectly. Making sure these components are resistant to radiation effects is especially important for components used in space flight operations. At low dose rates, a phenomenon known as the enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) effect causes an increase in current within linear bipolar circuits. This increase in current is not desirable for space flight operations. Correctly selecting radiation hardened components or figuring out how to deal with the effects for space operation is important, however, radiation testing each component is very expensive and time consuming. To further the future of space travel, a more efficient way of testing is highly desired by the space industry. A low-cost and time-efficient solution is the IMPACT tool. The Multiscale Tool for Modeling Radiation Effects in Linear Bipolar Circuits project aims to improve the existing IMPACT tool for radiation simulation. This tool contains a database of commonly used linear bipolar circuits and allows the user to model the radiation effects. Currently the tool is not very easy to use and the circuit database is limited. The team’s goal and overall outcome of the project is to deliver the IMPACT tool with a user-friendly interface and an expanded circuit database. The team is using multiple tools to improve the overall appearance of the IMPACT tool and running simulations to collect any necessary data for the database expansion. In our thesis, Kerri and Kylie are using LTSpice simulations to expand the database. Cheyenne is using TCAD modeling to create TCAD models of transistors and compare them with her other group member’s simulations.

When exposed to radiation, many electronic components become damaged and operate incorrectly. Making sure these components are resistant to radiation effects is especially important for components used in space flight operations. At low dose rates, a phenomenon known as the enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) effect causes an increase in current within linear bipolar circuits. This increase in current is not desirable for space flight operations. Correctly selecting radiation hardened components or figuring out how to deal with the effects for space operation is important, however, radiation testing each component is very expensive and time consuming. To further the future of space travel, a more efficient way of testing is highly desired by the space industry. A low-cost and time-efficient solution is the IMPACT tool. The Multiscale Tool for Modeling Radiation Effects in Linear Bipolar Circuits project aims to improve the existing IMPACT tool for radiation simulation. This tool contains a database of commonly used linear bipolar circuits and allows the user to model the radiation effects. Currently the tool is not very easy to use and the circuit database is limited. The team’s goal and overall outcome of the project is to deliver the IMPACT tool with a user-friendly interface and an expanded circuit database. The team is using multiple tools to improve the overall appearance of the IMPACT tool and running simulations to collect any necessary data for the database expansion. In our thesis, Kerri and Kylie are using LTSpice simulations to expand the database. Cheyenne is using TCAD modeling to create TCAD models of transistors and compare them with her other group member’s simulations.

Most hardware today is based on von Neumann architecture separating memory from logic. Valuable processing time is lost in shuttling information back and forth between the two units, a problem called von Neumann bottleneck. As transistors are scaled further down, this bottleneck will make it harder to deliver performance in computing power. Adding to this is the increasing complexity of artificial intelligence logic. Thus, there is a need for a faster and more efficient method of computing. Neuromorphic systems deliver this by emulating the massively parallel and fault-tolerant computing capabilities of the human brain where the action potential is triggered by multiple inputs at once (spatial) or an input that builds up over time (temporal). Highly scalable memristors are key in these systems- they can maintain their internal resistive state based on previous current/voltage values thus mimicking the way the strength of two synapses in the brain can vary. The brain-inspired algorithms are implemented by vector matrix multiplications (VMMs) to provide neuronal outputs. High-density conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM) crossbar arrays (CBAs) can perform VMMs parallelly with ultra-low energy.This research explores a simple planarization technique that could be potentially extended to integrate front-end-of-line (FEOL) processing of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry with back-end-of-line (BEOL) processing of CBRAM CBAs for one-transistor one-resistor (1T1R) Neuromorphic CMOS chips where the transistor is part of the CMOS circuitry and the CBRAM forms the resistor. It is a photoresist (PR) and spin-on glass (SOG) based planarization recipe to planarize CBRAM electrode patterns on a silicon substrate. In this research, however, the planarization is only applied to mechanical grade (MG) silicon wafers without any CMOS layers on them. The planarization achieved was of a very high order (few tens of nanometers). Additionally, the recipe is cost-effective, provides good quality films and simple as only two types of process technologies are involved- lithography and dry etching. Subsequent processing would involve depositing the CBRAM layers onto the planarized electrodes to form the resistor. Finally, the entire process flow is to be replicated onto wafers with CMOS layers to form the 1T1R circuit.

In collaboration with Moog Broad Reach and Arizona State University, a<br/>team of five undergraduate students designed a hardware design solution for<br/>protecting flash memory data in a spaced-based radioactive environment. Team<br/>Aegis have been working on the research, design, and implementation of a<br/>Verilog- and Python-based error correction code using a Reed-Solomon method<br/>to identify bit changes of error code. For an additional senior design project, a<br/>Python code was implemented that runs statistical analysis to identify whether<br/>the error correction code is more effective than a triple-redundancy check as well<br/>as determining if the presence of errors can be modeled by a regression model.

Radiation hardening of electronic devices is generally necessary when designing for the space environment. Non-volatile memory technologies are of particular concern when designing for the mitigation of radiation effects. Among other radiation effects, single-event upsets can create bit flips in non-volatile memories, leading to data corruption. In this paper, a Verilog implementation of a Reed-Solomon error-correcting code is considered for its ability to mitigate the effects of single-event upsets on non-volatile memories. This implementation is compared with the simpler procedure of using triple modular redundancy.

This thesis proposes hardware and software security enhancements to the robotic explorer of a capstone team, in collaboration with the NASA Psyche Mission Student Collaborations program. The NASA Psyche Mission, launching in 2022 and reaching the metallic asteroid of the same name in 2026, will explore from orbit what is hypothesized to be remnant core material of an early planet, potentially providing key insights to planet formation. Following this initial mission, it is possible there would be scientists and engineers interested in proposing a mission to land an explorer on the surface of Psyche to further document various properties of the asteroid. As a proposal for a second mission, an interdisciplinary engineering and science capstone team at Arizona State University designed and constructed a robotic explorer for the hypothesized surfaces of Psyche, capable of semi-autonomously navigating simulated surfaces to collect scientific data from onboard sensors. A critical component of this explorer is the command and data handling subsystem, and as such, the security of this system, though outside the scope of the capstone project, remains a crucial consideration. This thesis proposes the pairing of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology for increased hardware security and the implementation of SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) for increased software security for Earth-based testing as well as space-ready missions.

The colossal global counterfeit market and advances in cryptography including quantum computing supremacy have led the drive for a class of anti-counterfeit tags that are physically unclonable. Dendrites, previously considered an undesirable side effect of battery operation, have promise as an extremely versatile version of such tags, with their fundamental nature ensuring that no two dendrites are alike and that they can be read at multiple magnification scales. In this work, we first pursue a simulation for electrochemical dendrites that elucidates fundamental information about their growth mechanism. We then translate these results into physical dendrites and demonstrate methods of producing a hash from these dendrites that is damage-tolerant for real-world verification. Finally, we explore theoretical curiosities that arise from the fractal nature of dendrites. We find that uniquely ramified dendrites, which rely on lower ion mobility and conductive deposition, are particularly amenable to wavelet hashing, and demonstrate that these dendrites have strong commercial potential for securing supply chains at the highest level while maintaining a low price point.

This creative project is an extension of the work being done as part of Senior Design in<br/>developing the See-Through Car Pillar, a system designed to render the forward car pillars in a car<br/>invisible to the driver so they can have an unobstructed view utilizing displays, sensors, and a<br/>computer. The first half of the paper provides the motivation, design and progress of the project, <br/>while the latter half provides a literature survey on current automobile trends, the viability of the<br/>See-Through Car Pillar as a product in the market through case studies, and alternative designs and <br/>technologies that also might address the problem statement.