Electronic components can be severely affected by space radiation effects. Depending on the phenomena caused: total ionizing dose (TID), single event effects (SEE) or displacement damages (DD), different failure modes could take place, from parametric drift – failures, such as leakage current, threshold voltage, among others, to destructive effects, like single event Latch up (SEL) or single event burn-out (SEB). Such failures could be critical for the mission, making effective radiation protection of electronic components in space essential.

To address this issue, within the frame of SRPROTEC project, an encapsulation via Dam & Fill process was performed, manufacturing QFN test vehicles with a novel composite material with radiation shielding properties A dedicated test plan was designed and executed for the test vehicles to assess their physical integrity after manufacturing and environmental stress conditions. External Visual Inspection, Radiographic Inspection, Scanning Acoustic Microscopy and Temperature Cycling tests were performed. Characterization results and discussion will be addressed in this paper. To dive deeper, check out the webinar Advanced Materials for Space Radiation Protection, available to view anytime >> here.