Lecture

Microelectronics Vulnerability to Space Environment

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In course

EE-583: Spacecraft avionics architectures

The course presents and analyses the different systems, architectures and components of spacecraft avionics (on board data handling and processing systems) controlling and commanding spacecraft and payloads (instruments). It will study typical bus structur ...

Description

This lecture covers the vulnerability of microelectronics to the harsh space environment, including space radiations, radiation effects on microelectronics, and mitigation techniques. Topics include the impact of energetic particles, radiation belts, magnetosphere shielding, and the South Atlantic Anomaly. The instructor discusses the effects of solar wind, galactic cosmic rays, and the variability of Van Allen Belts on spacecraft and microelectronics. The presentation also addresses the classification of radiations, their effects on semiconductor structures, and the consequences of radiation on microelectronics components.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Plasma physics: Space-plasma physics

Health sciences

Radiology: Topics in radiology

Related concepts (32)

Ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel up to 99% of the speed of light, and the electromagnetic waves are on the high-energy portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays, X-rays, and the higher energy ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum are ionizing radiation, whereas the lower energy ultraviolet, visible light, nearly all types of laser light, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves are non-ionizing radiation.

Van Allen radiation belt

A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The belts are named after James Van Allen, who is credited with their discovery. Earth's two main belts extend from an altitude of about above the surface, in which region radiation levels vary.

Radiation protection

Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Exposure can be from a source of radiation external to the human body or due to internal irradiation caused by the ingestion of radioactive contamination. Ionizing radiation is widely used in industry and medicine, and can present a significant health hazard by causing microscopic damage to living tissue.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor (for example, early stages of breast cancer).

Solar wind

The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between 0.5keV. The composition of the solar wind plasma also includes a mixture of materials found in the solar plasma: trace amounts of heavy ions and atomic nuclei of elements such as C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe. There are also rarer traces of some other nuclei and isotopes such as P, Ti, Cr, 54Fe and 56Fe, and 58Ni, 60Ni, and 62Ni.

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