Development of core technologies for a wireless communication chipset with radiation tolerance (RF analog circuit development) (Contract research); FY2024 Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project

Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science; Institute of Science Tokyo*

The Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), has been conducting the Nuclear Energy Science & Technology and Human Resource Development Project (hereafter referred to "the Project") from FY2019. The Project aims to contribute to solving problems in the nuclear energy field represented by the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (1F), Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO). For this purpose, intelligence was collected from all over the world, and basic research and human resource development were promoted by closely integrating/collaborating knowledge and experiences in various fields beyond the barrier of conventional organizations and research fields. The sponsor of the Project was moved from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to JAEA since the newly adopted proposals in FY2018. On this occasion, JAEA constructed a new research system where JAEA-academia collaboration is reinforced and medium-to-long term research/development and human resource development contributing to the decommissioning are stably and consecutively implemented. Among the adopted proposals in FY2024, this report summarizes the research results of the "Development of core technologies for a wireless communication chipset with radiation tolerance (RF analog circuit development)" conducted in FY2024. The present study aims to establish a wireless communication system operable inside the reactor containment vessel and the reactor pressure vessel of 1F, and to develop key circuit technologies with radiation tolerance. The elemental developments will be carried out through the collaboration of two subthemes: RF analog circuit development and baseband circuit development. In this research, we are responsible for the RF analog circuit development, designing and implementing various circuits using radiation-tolerant silicon CMOS integrated circuit technology as well as diamond semiconductor devices. For silicon CMOS high-frequency analog circuits, RF analog signal processing circuits such as power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, mixers, and variable-gain amplifiers will be developed. For diamond semiconductor technology, device-level development of power amplifiers and power management circuits will be conducted. Ultimately, this project aims to realize prototype components of a wireless communication chipset capable of achieving a data rate of 2.5 Mbps or higher while withstanding a total ionizing dose exceeding 1 MGy.