A1 Journal article (refereed)
The pion single-event latch-up cross-section enhancement : mechanisms and consequences for accelerator hardness assurance (2021)

Coronetti, A., Alia Garcia, R., Cerutti, F., Hajdas, W., Söderström, D., Javanainen, A., & Saigne, F. (2021). The pion single-event latch-up cross-section enhancement : mechanisms and consequences for accelerator hardness assurance. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 68(8), 1613-1622. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.2021.3070216

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Coronetti, Andrea; Alia Garcia, Ruben; Cerutti, Francesco; Hajdas, Wojtek; Söderström, Daniel; Javanainen, Arto; Saigne, Frederic

Journal or series: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

ISSN: 0018-9499

eISSN: 1558-1578

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 68

Issue number: 8

Pages range: 1613-1622

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.2021.3070216

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/74970

Abstract

Pions make up a large part of the hadronic environment typical of accelerator mixed-fields. Characterizing device cross-sections against pions is usually disregarded in favour of tests with protons, whose single-event latch-up cross-section is, nonetheless, experimentally found to be lower than that of pions for all energies below 250 MeV. While Monte-Carlo simulations are capable of reproducing such behavior, the reason of the observed pion cross-section enhancement can only be explained by a deeper analysis of the underlying mechanisms dominating proton-silicon and pion-silicon reactions. The mechanisms dominating the single-event latchup response are found to vary with the energy under consideration. While a higher pion nuclear reaction rate, i.e., probability of interaction, can explain the observed latchup cross-section enhancement at energies > 100 MeV, it is the volume-equivalent linear energy transfer (LETEQ) of the secondary ions that keeps the pion latchup response high at lower energies. The higher LETEQ of secondary ions from pion-silicon interactions are caused by the pion absorption mechanism, which is highly exothermic. In spite of the observed higher cross-section for pions, the high-energy hadron approximation is found to still provide reliable estimations of the latch-up response of a device in mixed-field.

Keywords: radiation physics; ionising radiation; protons; silicon; electronic components; particle accelerators

Free keywords: pions; protons; neutrons; accelerator; SEL; cross-section; radiation hardness assurance; FLUKA; nuclear interactions

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

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