Infineon Radiation-Hardened Power Devices Power NASA's Roman Space Telescope

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Infineon Technologies' radiation-hardened HiRel power semiconductors have launched aboard NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The telescope lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is heading to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), more than 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The stable gravitational conditions and wide, unobstructed field of view at L2 will support the telescope's astrophysics research program.

Space beyond Earth's protective magnetic field contains high-energy particles that can degrade the electrical performance of semiconductor devices, or even cause permanent damage or complete failure. Infineon's radiation-hardened products do not rely on a single external shielding approach; instead, they are designed for radiation tolerance at the device architecture level to withstand such operating environments.

This mission continues Infineon's long-standing involvement in space electronics dating back to the 1970s. The company has provided radiation-hardened components for hundreds of space missions, including navigation satellites, the International Space Station, and NASA's Artemis program, with these components accumulating more than 20 billion kilometers of cumulative operation beyond Earth.

The HiRel devices used in the Roman Space Telescope include radiation-hardened power semiconductors that meet MIL-PRF requirements and have been characterized for total ionizing dose (TID) and single-event effects (SEE). These specifications and characterization results support the electrical and reliability margins required for the telescope's long-term operation at L2.

The telescope is expected to transmit approximately 1.4 terabytes of raw scientific data daily to ground stations distributed across New Mexico, Australia, and Japan. Maintaining a stable power supply to the scientific instruments, processing electronics, and communication systems is critical to sustaining this data throughput throughout the mission.

Infineon's HiRel product portfolio covers radiation-hardened silicon power MOSFETs, gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, gate drivers, solid-state relays, and diodes, supported by in-house manufacturing, radiation testing, and long-term product availability. One key device is the JANS-class 100V GaN transistor, which is manufactured internally by Infineon and qualified to MIL-PRF-19500.

GaN technology reduces switching losses while enabling higher switching frequencies and power densities. When used in spacecraft power systems, these characteristics reduce the need for magnetic components, helping to decrease system weight and volume—both critical design considerations for space missions where mass and space are severely constrained.