Abstract
Traditional heavy-ion testing for single-event effects is carried out in cyclotron facilities with energies around 10 MeV/n. Despite their capability of providing a broad range of linear energy transfer (LET) values, the main limitations are related to the need of testing in a vacuum and with the sensitive region of the components accessible to the low range ions. In this paper, we explore the use of ultrahigh energy (UHE) (5–150 GeV/n) ions in the CERN accelerator complex for radiation effects on electronics testing. At these energies, we show, both through simulations and experimental data, the significant impact of the ion energy on the ionization track structure and associated volume-restricted LET value, highlighting the possible limitations for radiation hardness assurance for high-energy accelerator applications. In addition, we show that from a nuclear interaction perspective, UHE ions behave similar to protons independently of their significantly larger mass.
Highlights
T RADITIONAL heavy-ion (HI) tests for single-event effect (SEE) qualification are carried out in cyclotron facilities with energies around 10 MeV/n
Because of the very different energy range to that typically employed in standard HI tests, the beam–matter interactions are analyzed in the context of radiation effects and with the aid of Monte Carlo simulation tools
We show that in the very HEs (VHEs) and ultrahigh energy (UHE) regimes, the volume-equivalent linear energy transfer (LET) for typical SEE sensitive volumes (SVs) dimensions can be significantly lower than the unrestricted value, and needs to be carefully considered when applying UHE results to other operational environments, such as the accelerator mixed field
Summary
T RADITIONAL heavy-ion (HI) tests for single-event effect (SEE) qualification are carried out in cyclotron facilities with energies around 10 MeV/n. Ultra-HEs (UHEs) are defined as ions in the 5–150-GeV/n range, such as those available in the CERN accelerator complex, and which are the main subjects of this paper. This paper mainly focuses on the second point for screening of components and subsystems for hard failures in the HE accelerator environment, for which as will be covered in detail, the main identified limitation is the relatively low LET value associated with the UHE ion beams. This paper focuses on three fundamental aspects related to the impact of the UHE beam on the potential SEE induction: 1) the LET restricted to micrometric volumes representative of the SEE sensitive regions; 2) the evolution of the beam characteristics in its passage through matter (e.g., different test boards placed sequentially in the beam); and 3) the impact of indirect energy deposition through nuclear reaction products.
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