Teledyne e2v First to Have Fully Space-Qualified 4-Channel ADC

The company’s EV12AQ600 has just been confirmed as the industry’s first 4-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be qualified for space deployment.

Subjected to comprehensive testing, the EV12AQ600 has shown that it can withstand a total ionizing dose (TID) of 150kRad. The TID and SEE results underline the suitability of this device for space applications like long-term missions or GEO satellites. In addition, the ADC had to endure multi-axis mechanical shock and vibration tests, plus electro-static discharge (ESD), extreme temperature and thermal cycling test procedures. Having successfully passed all of the tests described, it now meets NASA and ESA requirements, complying with the stringent MIL-PRF-38535 (QML-Y) and ESCC 9000 standards.

Teledyne e2v’s EV12AQ600 series devices are already employed in numerous mission-critical military and avionics applications, and space qualification will open up many new opportunities for their usage. These 12-bit ADCs support 1.6GSps data sampling rates on each of their channels, or 6.4GSps across a single channel when interleaved. Detailed studies have shown that they do not exhibit the poor interface stability witnessed on devices from other ADC manufacturers when placed into a space environment. Consequently, customers can have full confidence in their long-term operation once they have been deployed there.