Electronic components designed for use in various consumer electronic devices and systems are typically developed for use at room temperatures. When these components are required to work in harsh environments, such as in space missions, they are normally placed in a protective temperature-controlled environment called warm electronic boxes (WEB).
These WEBs are usually housed inside the fuselages of systems such as the Rovers used on the surface of Mars or the moon. This is required to protect the electronic systems from the harsh temperatures at these surfaces, which could range from 120°C to -180°C in the course of a single day. However, the use of WEBs, which has hitherto been the convention, inevitably results in escalated power consumption, an increase in overall mass, and consequently higher costs.
In an attempt to overcome these challenges, NASA is encouraging research on low-cost electronics that would perform reliably in extreme environments, without the use of a WEB. Towards this goal, researchers from the University of Arkansas based in Fayetteville, have been able to successfully develop a continuous time voltage comparator, one of the most ubiquitous electronic components in many circuits, for use in extreme temperature ranges.
The novel voltage comparator dissipates very low levels of power and works reliably within a broad temperature range from -180°C to 120°C. It maintains a steady-state power consumption below 300 microwatts and has a propagation delay within 50 nanoseconds.
The design and fabrication processes required for this efficient voltage comparator technology is completely consistent with contemporary manufacturing processes, and especially with IBM’s 5AM silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process.
Frost & Sullivan anticipates that, while this novel voltage comparator was designed to cater mainly to the need for more efficient electronic components in space missions, it is versatile enough to be applicable for a range of harsh as well as normal operating environments. This includes applications in aerospace, automotive and hybrid vehicle operations. Particularly, it is highly suitable even for portable consumer electronics, by virtue of its compactness and high efficiency. The innovative voltage comparator technology holds immense potential in all these markets where it is likely to find applications. The market for high-temperature electronics in the hybrid electric vehicle segment alone is said to be worth more than $1 billion.
This novel development was an offshoot from the findings of a project funded by the NASA Exploration Technology Development Programme (ETDP). While this funding has been used to develop and test a prototype device, significant additional work is required before it can be commercialised and brought to the market. The researchers predict a timeline of about one to two years for full product development, provided they receive funding to the tune of about $1 million.
For more information contact Patrick Cairns, Frost & Sullivan, +27 (0)18 464 2402, [email protected], www.frost.com
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