DESIGN OF ANALOG CIRCUITS FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENT APPLICATIONS Approved by:

To my parents, Soheila and Abbas, who taught me to dream big, and To my soulmate, Sasan, who has never ceased being my best friend. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS By submitting this thesis, my long and delightful journey of being a student is officially over. This journey would have not been possible without having the companion, friendship, help, and support of many wonderful people to whom I will always be grateful. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. John Cressler, for giving me the opportunity to join his group and work under his supervision. His passion and enthusiasm for research and his distinct personality and leadership skills have constantly inspired me throughout my studies as a PhD student. I have always felt I am a fortunate graduate student to have him as my advisor, not only because he is a great professor who provides enormous number of research opportunities for his students, but also because he is an extraordinary human being and a great teacher. His encouragements, patience, and continuous support of my work have made the four years of working with him an exceptional experience for me and I am deeply thankful. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. John Papapolymerou, Dr. Shyh-Chiang Shen, Dr. Paul Steffes, and Dr. Hao Min Zhou for their valuable time and insightful comments. My appreciation specially goes to Dr. Papapolymerou for being a great support to me