Radiation Effects in Semiconductor Devices in High Energy Physics Accelerator Facilities
by
Helio Takai
(Brookhaven National Laboratory)
→
US/Central
Bldg. 362 / Rm. F-108
Bldg. 362 / Rm. F-108
Description
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland collides high energy protons at a very high rate. Among the myriad of particles produced, some may indicate the presence of new physics. These particles also produce a radiation background that affects the performance of electronics used to process signals from the detectors. This man made radiation field varies in particle composition and energy spectrum that depends on the electronics location within a detector. As the LHC experiments are upgrading their electronics to reach better performance, understanding radiation effects in today's small feature size semiconductor devices becomes increasingly important. Because less charge is required to switch a transistor, understanding single event effects in the components used becomes very important. In this presentation we will discuss what we have learned about the radiation field in the ATLAS detector and what test and qualification strategies are best to follow. These strategies are quite general and can be applied to other situations found in the accelerator itself. We will compare the accelerator background to other radiation fields found in space and terrestrial environment.