EVALUATION OF FINFET TECHNOLOGY FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS FINFET TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY'S ANSWER TO CONTINUED SCALING BEYOND PLANAR CMOS TO ACHIEVE TOMORROW'S LOW-POWER HIGH-DENSITY MICROELECTRONICS. FOLLOWING THE INDUSTRY ROADMAP FINFET TECHNOLOGIES WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY RELEVANT TO OBSOLESCENCE-AVOIDANCE WITHIN NASA PROGRAMS AS THE LONG-STANDING CMOS TECHNOLOGIES RUN OUT OF LIFE AND MAY BE AN IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY FOR ROBOTIC EXPLORERS DESIGNED TO OPERATE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. THE SWITCH TO FINFET TRANSISTORS IS NOT MERELY A LITHOGRAPHY STEP BUT A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE FRONT-END FABRICATION PROCESS INCLUDING NEW MATERIALS FOR STRAIN AND BANDGAP ENGINEERING. THE THIN CONDUCTING CHANNELS OR FINS ARE WRAPPED ON THREE SIDES BY GATE MATERIALS FORMING A VERTICAL STRUCTURE TO ENABLE GREATER CHANNEL CONTROL AND DRIVE CURRENT WHILE REDUCING THE AREAL DIMENSIONS.