LTC3721-1

Question

I am working with a team of EEs on a HVPS for a NASA CubeSat and we would like to use the LTC3721-1. Before we use it, we were hoping we could have a couple of questions answered.

1. How susceptible is the chip to space radiation?
2. How does it behave in a high vacuum environment like space?
3. What mode does it operate in for switching at low loads? To be more specific, we have a capacitor-diode multiplier into a low current load that's 50uA. Is it plain PWM switching or does it change to a different switching mode at lower load?

ADIApproved · Accepted Answer

Hi 
 We have no radiation data on this part, so I can&rsquo;t comment on how susceptible LTC3721 is to radiation. 
 It is fabrication on 2um CMOS process, and TID radiation is know to shift Vt, but we have no way of quantifying behaviour without testing. 
 
 As to working on a vacuum, the IC behaviour will be the same, as long as it is biased per the datasheet (again, discounting effects of radiation etc.). 
 There is no change of modes at light loads, but there might be pulse skipping.)

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