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The Van Allen Probes Engineering Radiation Monitor The Van Allen Probes Engineering Radiation Monitor The Van Allen Probes Engineering Radiation Monitor: Mission Radiation Environment and Effects Richard H. Maurer and John O. Goldsten ABSTRACT The engineering radiation monitor (ERM) measures dose, dose rate, and charging currents on the Van Allen Probes mission to study the dynamics of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts. Mea- surements from this monitor show a variation in dose rates with time, a correlation between the dosimeter and charging current data, a map of charging current versus orbit altitude, and a com- parison of measured cumulative dose to prelaunch and postlaunch modeling. The measurement results and surveys of the radiation hardness for the spacecraft and science instrument electronics enable the team to predict the length of possible mission extensions. The ERM data have proved useful in investigations of two spacecraft anomalies. INTRODUCTION For more than a half century, The Johns Hopkins 3. Provide measurements that allow correlation of University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has anomalies with radiation environmental factors. designed spacecraft electronics and science instruments that are exposed to the space radiation environment 4. Provide data and knowledge to support potential and its effects. The design and fabrication of an accurate mitigation of anomalies. and reliable radiation monitor has become increasingly important for the unique and challenging missions now 5. Acquire environmental data vital for future missions occurringn i Earth orbit and interplanetary space. The to the same region of space. space radiation environment is important for spacecraft 6. Provide feedback on the accuracy of the environ- operations, spacecraft system design, mission planning, mental models used to plan the original mission. and astronaut safety in manned missions. In August 2012, the two Van Allen Probes spacecraft An engineering radiation monitoring experiment launched into an Earth geosynchronous transfer orbit was devised for integration into the overall philosophy (GTO). The engineering radiation monitor (ERM) cap- of the Van Allen Probes mission and to specifically track tures data from the spacecraft, with the following goals: the total cumulative ionizing dose and dose rates due to 1. Provide measurements that enable the mission plan- Earth’s trapped radiation belts and their dynamics result- ning team to adapt to the radiation environment. ing from solar events and storms. Explorer 1 discovered Earth’s radiation belts at the beginning of the space age 2. Provide information to support decisions for future in 1958. Figure 1 shows a sketch of the spacecraft orbits missions with longer mission lifetimes. and Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts. The two space- Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 33, Number 3 (2016), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest 183 R. H. Maurer and J. O. Goldsten mission. See J. O. Goldsten et al. for a detailed descrip- tion of the ERM and its operation.1 In this article, we present a brief overview of its capabilities. The ERM moni- tors total dose, dose rate, and deep dielectric charging at each spacecraft in real time. Designed to take the place of spacecraft balance mass, the ERM contains an array of eight dosimeters and two buried conductive plates. The dosimeters are mounted under covers of varying shield thickness (0.05 mm Al, 0.39 mm Mg, 0.78 mm Figure 1. Both Van Allen Probes spacecraft operate in highly elliptical GTO orbits and spend a Mg, 1.16 mm Mg, 1.55 mm substantial part of their mission life in the Van Allen radiation belts. The two orbits have apogee Mg, 2.32 mm Mg, 4.66 mm altitudes between 30,050 and 31,250 km, perigee altitudes between 500 and 675 km, a period of Mg, 9.0 mm Al) to obtain 9 h, and inclination of 10°. a dose–depth curve and to characterize the electron and proton contributions to craft are positioned and phased such that one will lap total dose. The dosimeters are REM Oxford type RFT300 the other approximately four times per year, providing (300-nm gate oxide thickness) dual radiation-sensing field coverage of many relative locations and times. effect transistors (RadFETs) and operate at zero bias (with the gate held at 0 V during exposure) to preserve their response even when powered off for extended periods. THE ENGINEERING RADIATION MONITOR The range of the RadFETs extends above 1000 krad(Si) The ERM (see Table 1 for specifications) was devel- to avoid saturation over the expected duration of the mis- oped as a supplementary spacecraft experiment for sion, and the resolution is about 10 rad(Si). NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission. The mass is 1.5 kg, the Two large-area (~10 cm2) charge monitor plates set power is 0.2 W when operating, and the dimensions are behind 1.0- and 3.8-mm-thick aluminum covers mea- 18 18 6 cm. It was designed for the baseline ~800-day sure the dynamic currents of weakly penetrating elec- trons that can be potentially hazardous to sensitive elec- tronic components within the spacecraft. The charge monitors can handle large events without saturating (~3000 fA/cm2) with suf- ficient sensitivity (~0.1 fA/ cm2) to characterize qui- escent conditions as well. High time-resolution (5 s) monitoring allows detection of rapid changes in flux and enables correlation of space- craft anomalies under local space weather conditions. Figure 2 shows the loca- Figure 2. (Left) View of the Van Allen Probes spacecraft showing the location of the ERM near the tion of the ERM on the bottom center between the two lower solar panels. The ERM is located toward the edge of the aft spacecraft. The mounting deck and mounts near a balance mass location. (Right) Zoom on the mounting detail (insulation location near the edge of the blanket not shown for clarity). deck assures a clear field of 184 Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 33, Number 3 (2016), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest The Van Allen Probes Engineering Radiation Monitor tion. Given the closeness of the pixels to each other and the penetrating nature of radiation, there is consider- able overlap of dose between adjacent pixels. This com- plication is accounted for in the modeling effort, which has recently been extended to derive the effective thick- nesses for each pixel. The absorber material is pri- marily magnesium precisely machined to form steps at Figure 3. (Left) Flight ERM with its cover removed showing the locations of the individual RadFET each pixel boundary. The dosimeters and the two charge monitors; the maximum shielded board-mounted RadFET is at the desired thickness over the lower right next to and deeper than the RadFET bench. (Right) View with cover showing variable thickness absorber. center pixel was too thin for accurate machining and was replaced with a piece of view for the two charge monitors (circular depressions 40-µm-thick aluminum foil bonded to a framed cutout. in the cover) and the dosimeter array (the rectangular Each dosimeter is an integrated circuit (type RFT- aperture with the thinnest absorber at its center). The 300CC10G1, developed and manufactured by REM small amount of absorption or shielding due to the mul- Oxford Ltd.) and contains two RadFET sensors and an tilayer insulation blanket (not shown) over the aperture on-chip diode. RadFETs are p-type metal oxide field is only significant when compared to the thinnest part effect transistors (p-MOSFET) with a thickened gate of the cover and has been included in the design phase oxide region. Radiation-induced charge in the gate oxide GEANT radiation transport model. (SiO2) region can remain trapped for many years. The Figure 3 provides internal and external views of presence of this stored space charge produces a threshold the ERM. The rectangular aperture in the cover spans voltage shift in the transistor as total dose accumulates. the dosimeter array and contains a variable thickness A thicker oxide region increases sensitivity but reduces absorber to characterize dose versus depth. The circu- dynamic range. The ERM employs devices with an lar depressions above the charge monitor plates provide oxide thickness of 0.3 µm, which provides an acceptable two levels of shielding thickness to gauge deep dielec- balance between sensitivity and dynamic range. tric charging currents over an extended range. The The RadFET oxide is sensitive to all types of ion- ERM is sensitive to radiation penetrating these defined izing dose and provides a linear energy transfer type apertures as well as from the surrounding thick box response that is not overly affected by dose rate or par- walls, necessitating the derivation of an effective thick- ticle species. The response to dose is most sensitive and ness for each RadFET by using the GEANT radiation linear if the gate is biased during irradiation, but an transport modeling. operational constraint of the ERM is that power might be removed at any time. Because of this risk, the team Dosimeter An objective of the dosimeter array is to characterize Table 1. ERM summary specifications the dose–depth curve for comparison with model pre- Specification Value dictions. The array consists of seven RadFET dosimeters Dosimeter range 0–1000 krad spaced ~2 cm apart to form separate pixels, where each ~0.01 krad, TID < 10 krad pixel sits beneath a different thickness cover. The Rad- Dosimeter sensitivity ~0.1 krad, TID < 100 krad FETs are mounted along a raised aluminum “bench” that ~1 krad, TID < 1000 krad brings them in close proximity to the cover, increasing 2 the portion of their field of view subtended by the vari- Charge monitor range 0–3 pA/cm able thickness covers. An eighth RadFET dosimeter is Charge monitor sensitivity ~1 fA/cm2 mounted directly to the printed circuit board, providing Mass 2.9 kg a representative dose for the common box wall thickness Power 0.25 W on the Van Allen Probes.
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