Dosimetry based on the erasure of floating gates in the natural radiation environments in space

A new method is described for measuring ionizing radiation on spacecraft us ing an army of Floating gate Avalanche injected Metal Oxide Silicon (FAMOS) transistors. A commercial UltraViolet erasable Programmable Read Only Memo ry (UVPROM) is used to demonstrate the technique for both ground and space dosimetry applications. An indirect measurement of the charge remaining on the floating gate is used to determine the absorbed dose. This method of de termining dose leaves the data and the detector intact and capable of furth er measurements. The device requires power only during readout. Measurement s of different ionizing radiation types are presented Results from an exper iment using this technique aboard the Microelectronics and Photonics Test B ed (MPTB) satellite are discussed.