The effects of heavy ion radiation on digital micromirror device performance

摘要

There is a need for a space-suitable solution to the selection of targets to be observed in astronomical multiobject spectrometers (MOS). A few digital micromirror device (DMD) - based prototype MOS have been developed for use at ground observatories, However their main use will come in deploying a space based mission. The question of DMD performance under in-orbit radiation remains unanswered. DMDs were tested under accelerated heavy-ion radiation (with the control electronics shielded from radiation), with a focus on detection of single-event effects (SEEs) including latch-up events. Testing showed that DMDs are sensitive to non-destructive ion-induced state changes; however, all SEEs were cleared with a soft reset (that is, sending a new pattern to the device). The DMDs did not experience single-event induced permanent damage or functional changes that required a hard reset (power cycle), even at high ion fluences. This suggests that the SSE rate burden will be manageable for a DMD-based instrument when exposed to solar particle fluxes and cosmic rays on orbit.