Terrestrial cosmic rays

被引:316
作者
Ziegler, JF
机构
[1] IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
关键词
D O I
10.1147/rd.401.0019
中图分类号
TP3 [计算技术、计算机技术];
学科分类号
0812 ;
摘要
This paper reviews the basic physics of those cosmic rays which can affect terrestrial electronics. Cosmic rays at sea level consist mostly of neutrons, protons, pions, muons, electrons, and photons. The particles which cause significant soft fails in electronics are those particles with the strong interaction: neutrons, protons, and pions. At sea level, about 95% of these particles are neutrons. The quantitative flux of neutrons can be estimated to within 3x, and the relative variation in neutron flux with latitude, altitude, diurnal time, earth's sidereal position, and salar cycle is known with even higher accuracy. The possibility of two particles of a cascade interacting with a single circuit to cause two simultaneous errors is discussed. The terrestrial flux of nucleons can be attenuated by shielding, making a significant reduction in the electronic system soft-error rate. Estimates of such attenuation are made.
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页码:19 / 39
页数:21
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