Environmentally Invariant SiGe Electronics for On-Surface Exploration of Ocean Worlds

Exploration of Ocean Worlds (e.g., Europa) is especially challenging from an electronics perspective, given the combination of extreme radiation (5 Mrad TID) and low temperatures (-180°C) encountered on the surface. Legacy approaches (e.g., Mars rover) require placing electronics in protective “warm boxes” to ensure their robust operation, but this is not viable for Ocean Worlds given the constraints on battery life. From a mission-science perspective, it is highly desirable to utilize an electronics technology platform that possesses inherent “environmental invariance” (operates robustly in whatever environment it finds itself). The envisioned electronics platform should be commercially available, highly integrated, low-cost, support digital/analog/RF circuits, and bring compelling SWaP-C advantages. We are developing and demonstrating that advanced-node silicon-germanium (SiGe) electronics can support this vision. The SiGe NASA COLDTech team is working to demonstrate the efficacy of using SiGe technology to support NASA needs in this context (to TRL 5/6), and work to develop a design eco-system and component library for NASA utilization. Initial results are very encouraging.