We introduce an approach aimed at prescreening COTS components according to their single-event effect (SEE) sensitivity for space missions in which a complete characterization of their individual response to protons and heavy ions is not feasible due to cost and time constraints. The method is applied to a set of SRAM memories for single-event upset (SEU) and single-event latchup (SEL) and the resulting expected SEE rates are compared with traditional approaches and in-flight data for a low-earth orbit polar and a geostationary orbit. Despite the limitations related to components with high-LET threshold and thick sensitive volumes, we conclude that the proposed method can be an efficient means of rejecting highly sensitive components or lots and performing the complete characterization only on passing devices.

A new probabilistic model aiming to cover all aspects of the solar energetic particle (SEP) environment required for mission specifications is presented; the solar accumulated and peak proton and heavy ion radiation environment model. This model includes an updated reference data set upon which the analysis is based, a thorough evaluation of fitting procedures for SEP fluxes, a probabilistic helium model not based on proton fluxes, an extension to heavier ions based on new analysis of the Advanced Composition Explorer/solar isotope spectrometer data set, and a careful extrapolation of all output spectra to cover energies from 0.1 MeV/nuc to 1 GeV/nuc. Also included in this paper are derivations of spectra for rare solar particle events, which would occur at a given mean frequency and a new description for implementing the model to make it accessible to the public through systems, such as SPace ENVironment Information System or OMERE.

The effects of heavy-ion irradiation on 3-D NAND flash memory cells are investigated. Threshold voltage distributions are studied before and after exposure, as a function of the linear energy transfer, fluence, and irradiation angle. Shifts are smaller in 3-D devices than those in planar ones, for the same equivalent bit density. The cell circular shape and the fact that the tunnel oxide and interpoly dielectric blocking layers are perpendicular to the semiconductor substrate make it possible to gain insight into the underlying upset mechanism, which cannot be obtained with planar devices. Evidence that energy deposition in the blocking oxide layer can contribute to charge loss from the floating gate is presented.

The second L-class (large) mission in European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision program will be an X-ray telescope named Athena, planned to operate at the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system. Current large X-ray space telescopes like XMM-Newton and Chandra have encountered periods of unexpectedly high background due to protons in the energy range from 10 keV to 1 MeV (called "soft protons" hereafter). This is an important issue for Athena, as no X-ray telescope has been deployed at L2 so far and the soft proton environment there is poorly known. We analyze data from the Artemis and Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft and find that fluxes of both solar and geomagnetospheric origin significantly contribute to the soft proton populations in earth's magnetotail. We then estimate the background from the measured fluxes in Athena's X-ray instruments and compare it with the science requirement. Our findings reinforce the argument for developing a means to suppress the soft proton flux before it reaches the detectors such as with a magnetic diverter.

Evaluations of the hazardous Earth environment and its effects on space systems are often hampered by the lack of comprehensive tools to access numerical models and data in an integrated environment. In order to help spacecraft engineers perform rapid analyses of environmental problems and to guarantee reliable results, ESA commissioned the development of the SPace ENVironment Information System (SPENVIS), a user-friendly WWW interface (available at http://www.spenvis.oma.be/) to models, tools and data describing the various aspects of the space environment and its hazardous effects. SPENVIS is conceived as a set of building blocks which are connected through a dynamic HTML interface. This design approach facilitates extensions and updates of the system with new models and tools, provides a flexible navigation through the many applications incorporated in the system and incorporates a protocol to interconnect with other services and tools, such as NASA's Space Ionizing Radiation Environments and Shielding Tools (SIREST). SPENVIS is based on internationally recognized standard models and methods in many domains. It uses an orbit generator to produce orbital point files necessary for many different types of problems. The radiation environment models in SPENVIS cover the Earth's radiation belts, cosmic rays and solar energetic particles. Fluxes and fluences derived from these models are used to calculate ionising and non-ionising dose, degradation of solar cells and single event effects for simple shielding configurations or in combination with a sectoring analysis. A Geant4-based Monte Carlo tool (Mulassis) for doses and pulse height analyses is available as well.

We apply a Monte Carlo based integral rectangular parallel-piped (IRRP) approach to evaluate the impact of heavy ion reaction products on the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) Single Event Effect (SEE) rate, concluding that owing to their similar high-energy (> 100 MeV/n) SEE cross section and much larger abundance, protons are expected to be the dominating contributor. In addition, a broad set of components, ions and energies is used to explore the sub-LET threshold experimental region for standard ground-level heavy ion test energies, identifying an overall decreasing trend in the 10-80 MeV/n range due to the decreased contribution of complete and break-up fusion, and pointing out the limitations associated to the application of Monte Carlo SEE models in this energy interval.

This study focuses on the ion species and energy dependence of the heavy ion SEE cross section in the sub-LET threshold region through a set of experimental data. In addition, a Monte Carlo based model is introduced and applied, showing a good agreement with the data in the several hundred MeV/n range while evidencing large discrepancies with the measurements in the 10-30 MeV/n interval, notably for the Ne ion. Such discrepancies are carefully analyzed and discussed.

CODES is an ESA GEANT4 based top level engineering tool, to predict Single Event Effects in EEE devices. It consists of different GEANT4 modules with a user friendly web-based interface. The different modules comprise device geometry definition (including packaging and shielding), device sensitivity interpretation based on experimental test data and data analysis. CODES performance and inter-modular communication is assured by a pre-processor. CODES web interface is deployed in a PHP server. CODES perform full simulation of device sensitivity and final rate prediction. CODES validation results have revealed its excellent performance as an engineering tool.

Angular distribution and contamination of proton spectra measured at LEO are considered as possible sources of discrepancies between fluxes obtained by different instruments. In particular, not accounted for pitch angle distribution and East/West asymmetry of energetic proton fluxes have been suspected of leading to the reported underestimates of these fluxes by the NASA Model AP8. The energetic particle telescope (EPT) was designed as a science-class instrument aimed at providing uncontaminated fluxes of electrons (0.5 - 20 MeV), protons (9.5 - 300 MeV) and alpha-particles (38 - 1200 MeV) getting into the instrument from within a well-defined Field Of View (FOV). The PROBA-V satellite with EPT was launched on May 7th, 2013 on a LEO, 820 km altitude, 98.7 degrees inclination and a 10: 30-11: 30 Local Time at Descending Node. Based on the data acquired by the EPT on board PROBA-V, we account for flux angular distribution effects to provide a definitive reply to the basic question: "does AP8 underestimate E > 100 MeV proton fluxes around, B/B-0 = 1.1, L = 1.3"?

We present the design and preliminary calibration results of a novel highly miniaturised particle radiation monitor (HMRM) for spacecraft use. The HMRM device comprises a telescopic configuration of active pixel sensors enclosed in a titanium shield, with an estimated total mass of 52 g and volume of 15 cm3. The monitor is intended to provide real-time dosimetry and identification of energetic charged particles in fluxes of up to 108 cm−2 s−1 (omnidirectional). Achieving this capability with such a small instrument could open new prospects for radiation detection in space.

Several models of the high energy electron radiation environment in the Jovian system have been constructed, based on a limited set of data, principally from Voyager 1 and 2 and Galileo. The design of future missions to this harsh radiation environment requires characterisation of the environment and its uncertainties. From the uncertainties a margin policy can be established to ensure robustness in design without costly over engineering. The uncertainties in the Jovian radiation environment data, and subsequently the models and underlying data are presented with an approach to defining a margin policy for the Ganymede orbit.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction The Instrument Strv-Rem Measurements of the Outer Belt Electrons Mir-Rem Measurements of the Footprints of the Radiation Belts Conclusions

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Definition of Drift Shell Averages The Drift Shell Tracing Programme Illustration of the Programme Conclusions Discussion

Reliable data on the ionising radiation environment is regarded as very important to ensure an efficient design and operation of spacecraft. Here we present a novel Highly Miniaturised Radiation Monitor (HMRM) that aims to greatly reduce costs and complexity of radiation detectors.At the core of the current design is a CMOS Image Sensor. Size and mass are considerably reduced thanks to this approach and there is also scope for a reduction in power consumption. This makes the HMRM much easier to integrate on a spacecraft. The innovative architecture of the proposed radiation monitor will also make particle identification possible.The image sensor is based on a 50 by 51 pixel array. The selected pixel is a 4T, to reduce the noise The array is read our in snapshot mode at a frame rate of 10,000 fps.Biasing currents and voltages are generated on chip to reduce the number of signals required to control the sensor. The sensor is designed to work on a large range of temperatures, from -40 degrees C to +80 degrees C; hence a temperature sensor has been integrated.The digital output data is obtained with a three bit column parallel ADC with programmable thresholds. An analogue readout has been also designed to characterise and debug the ASIC.In this following paper we also want to present the results obtained from the measurements on the prototype. Preliminary PTC plots show a gain of 60 mu V/e(-) with CDS and a noise of 17 e(-) rms, which includes the noise from the external board. (C) 2013 Elsevier EN. All rights reserved.

The effects of cosmic radiation in single cells, organic tissues and electronics are a major concern for space exploration and manned missions. Standard heavy ions radiation tests employ ion cocktails with energy of the order of 10 MeV per nucleon and with a linear energy transfer ranging from a few MeV cm(2) mg(-1) to hundreds of MeV cm(2) mg(-1). In space, cosmic rays show significant fluxes at energies up to the order of GeV per nucleon. The present work aims at investigating single event damage due to low-, high- and very-high-energy ions. The European Space Agency reference single event upset monitor data are used to support the discussion. Finally, the effect of ionization induced directly by primary particles and ionization induced by recoils produced in an electronic device is investigated for different types of devices.

Our solar system is bombarded by galactic cosmic rays (GCR). These consist of electrons and nearly all the elements of the periodic table. The energy of the ions can be as high as 10 eV, but they have their maximum fluence around 1 GeV/n [1]. Here on Earth the atmosphere protects us from most of the GCRs but in space they pose a serious hazard for satellite electronics due to their ability to produce a lot of electrical charge inside a very small volume by direct ionization along their path inside the device.

A method is proposed that uses the fundamental physical differences between direct and indirect energy deposition processes to obtain accurate values of the sensitive volume (SV) thickness and critical charge of electronic devices. The intention is to calibrate a unified model capable of describing both heavy ion and proton test data through Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and therefore also suitable for performing on-board predictions. The method was applied toavailable test data from a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) power MESFET currently on board the MetOp-A Earth-observation mission, and results were contrasted with the measured on-board time to failure period.