EFFECTS OF MATERIAL AND OR STRUCTURE ON SHIELDING OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES/

In this paper, we have pioneered a new direction concerning the shield ing of electronic devices (at a microcircuit-packaging or a larger lev el) in a radiative environment. As a matter of fact, this work not onl y considers the role of the material itself on the shielding efficienc y but also the effect of the structure of the shield. By simulations w ith the NOVICE Code([1][2]), we have explored the possibility of combi ning the specific attenuation properties of given materials in an opti mized multilayer (and multimaterial) structure. This study is based on a brief theoretical overview of interaction of space radiation with m aterial([3][4]). Then, the results of simulations are presented. The w orkframe of these calculations is a worst-case geosynchronous orbit (1 60 degrees West) for a period of 15 years (trapped electrons and proto ns from 4 anomalously large solar particle events). We found that it i s possible to improve the shielding properties of a monomaterial absor ber by using an optimized multilayer, multimaterial shield.