Infineon Technologies LLC, part of Infineon Technologies AG, recently announced the availability of the space industry’s first radiation-hardened (rad hard), serial interface Ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) for extreme environments. The new devices deliver unsurpassed reliability and data retention and are more energy efficient than non-volatile EEPROM and serial NOR Flash devices for space applications.

The addition of a QML-V qualified F-RAM to Infineon’s memory portfolio makes the benefits of nearly infinite endurance, instant non-volatile write technology, and over 100-year data retention available to space applications. As a direct replacement for serial NOR flash and EEPROMs, rad hard F-RAM is ideal for data logging of mission critical data, telemetry storage, and command and control calibration data storage. The new device is also ideal for providing boot code storage solutions for microcontrollers, FPGAs and ASICs.

Support for the industry standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol improves ease-of-use and supports a smaller footprint and lower pin count. Serial protocols are increasingly used in satellite and space applications, with multiple suppliers now offering SPI capable space-grade processors, FPGAs and ASICs.

“As a recognized leader in high-reliability solutions for space applications, both through our IR HiRel business and in space-grade memories, Infineon is committed to delivering the most reliable, energy efficient memories for next-generation space applications,” said Helmut Puchner, Vice President Fellow of Aerospace and Defense at Infineon Technologies. “The newly introduced rad hard F-RAM devices have superior write capabilities with lower power requirements than alternatives, and support system designs with fewer components, improved performance and no compromise in reliability. We look forward to bringing more industry-firsts to the space market.”

The 2 Mb density F-RAM with SPI is the first in its family of rad hard non-volatile F-RAMs. The devices have virtually infinite endurance with no wear leveling, with 10 trillion read/write cycles and 120 years data retention at 85°C, at an operating voltage range of 2.0 V to 3.6 V. The lowest operating current is 10 mA maximum, with an extreme low programming voltage of 2 V.

The rad hard F-RAMs are also suitable for avionic and other applications that require military standard temperature grades reaching from -55°C to 125°C. Additional features include a small footprint with 16-pin ceramic SOP packaging. The DLAM QML-V qualified devices have superior radiation performance of:

The 2 Mb rad hard, non-volatile serial interface F-RAMs are available now. More information is available at https://www.infineon.com/hirelmemory.