Report on performance of two microcontrollers and a CAN bus controller after
exposure to varying levels of ionising radiation


http://atlasinfo.cern.ch/ATLAS/GROUPS/DAQTRIG/DCS/ELMB/resultspagure1.pdf

This is a report from CERN about the performance of electronic equipment
they use within their "ATLAS" system when exposed to ionising radiation. It
may be of interest in that it provides both qualitative and quantitative
information about operation and failure modes in an ionising radiation
environment.

The report proper is a 10 page pdf. The ICs tested were an AVR AT90S2313,
AtMega103L and SAE81C91 (Infineon CAN Bus controller).

Rough summary is:

- Current drain increased appreciably with exposure (factor of 10 x in mega
at 85 Gy)

- Point was reached where Flash memory would not erase (Mega) but cpu still
worked 100% and memory still read OK. With 2313 flash would erase but would
not reprogram but CPU still worked 100% at this point.

- Enough radiation kills them in the end.

Source was Gamma radiation from Cobalt 60 with dose accumulated in less than
an hour
Maximum exposure was ~= 80 Gray (Gy)
1 Gy = 100 Joule/kg = 100 rads.
(REM and RAD are related by a quality factor which varies with the radiation
type. In this case one can probably say that 80 Gy ~= 8000 rem = 1600 years
exposure to background radiation).
A person exposed to a dose of this level would die in a few weeks.





What's an ELMB (Embedded Local Monitor Board)

        http://atlasinfo.cern.ch/ATLAS/GROUPS/DAQTRIG/DCS/ELMB/


http://atlasinfo.cern.ch/ATLAS/GROUPS/DAQTRIG/DCS/ELMB/SB/elmb_5.html

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