Rad-Hard Electronics Development Program for SSC Liquid-Argon Calorimeters

Abstract

The development program for radiation-hard low-noise low-power front-end electronics for SSC calorimetry is described. Radiation doses of up to 20 MEad and neutron fluences of 10 14 neutrons/cm 2 are expected over ten years of operation. These effects are simulated by exposing JFETs to neutrons and ionizing radiation and measuring the resulting bias, leakage current and noise variations. In the case of liquid-argon calorimeters, a large part of the front-end circuitry may be located directly within the low-temperature environment (90 K), placing additional constraints on the choice of components and on the design. This approach minimizes the noise and the response time. The radiation damage test facilities at Argonne will also be described. These include sources of neutrons, electrons, and gamma radiation.

Rad-Hard Electronics Study for SSC Detectors

“…Commercial rad-hard processes have also been developed, so the technological know-how to fabricate rad-hard electronics already exists. The purpose of this study have been to evaluate radiation resistant processes from several vendors and previous results have been published on JFETs [2] and BiCMOS processes [3].…”

“…The source is a Cobalt-60 source rated up to 2 MRad(Si)/hr. A detailed description of the radiation sources at Argonne is given in [2]. The high dose rate at both the neutron and ionizing radiation source enabled us to simulate a ten year SSC dose in 4 -8 hours, four orders of magnitude difference in dose rate.…”