Radiation effects assessment by part and application
Enter a part number or start from the device technology, then say how the part is used and where it flies. The advisor identifies the radiation effects that deserve attention and points to the relevant data, test, or mitigation.
Part number lookup
Mission environment
These dose levels are approximate examples assuming 100 mil (2.54 mm) aluminum shielding. Actual dose rates depend heavily on shielding geometry, material composition, orbital parameters, and solar cycle phase. Always perform a mission-specific environment analysis.
Device type
Assessment
Select a Device Type to Begin
Select the device type and describe how the part is being used. The assessment changes with technology, application, voltage, criticality, and mission environment. Treat the result as a screening assessment; part-specific data always take precedence.
How it works
Assessing a part for its application
Name the part or its technology
A part number is matched against known families and prefixes, and rad hard prefixes are recognized; apply it to fill the device type and some answers. Or pick one of the device types by hand.
Say how it is used and where it flies
Each device type asks its own questions: voltage, configuration, node, precision and so on. The orbit, duration, margin and solar flares give the mission dose and displacement damage, which answer the dose questions unless you answer them yourself.
Read the effects that need attention
Total dose gets a risk level with the doses where degradation starts and where the function is in question; displacement damage and each single event effect get a severity; then come the derating and mitigation rules and the design tips.
About this advisor and its limits
This tool provides generalized radiation effects guidance based on device type and usage context. Results are approximate starting points, device-specific radiation testing is always required for flight qualification. No warranty expressed or implied. See the Help & Reference page for methodology details and references.
Enter a part number or start from the device technology. The advisor identifies the radiation effects that deserve attention and points to the relevant data, test, or mitigation. For the total dose question with numbers behind it, the Total Dose Hardness Priors give the fraction of each device family out of spec against dose. For the measured record on a specific part number, or a whole bill of materials, use the Part Lookup and BOM Screener.
How the assessment is built
Each device type carries its own usage questions and its own rules. Once every question has an answer, the rules give a total dose risk on four levels (low, moderate, high, critical) with the dose at which degradation starts and the dose at which the function is in question, an ELDRS warning where the technology calls for one, a displacement damage severity for the technologies that are sensitive to it, a severity for each single event effect (none, low, moderate, high or critical) with the reason, the derating and mitigation rules that follow, and design tips. The help page gives the method and the references behind the rules.
A part number lookup matches the number against known manufacturer families and prefixes, reports the device type with a confidence, and recognizes rad hard prefixes. Apply to Advisor selects that device type and pre-fills the answers the part number implies; the rest are yours to give. A part that is not recognized is assessed by picking the device type by hand.
Mission environment assumptions
The orbit presets are the approximate annual dose and fluence behind 100 mil (2.54 mm) of aluminum described in the note under the environment inputs. The mission total dose is the orbit's annual dose times the duration and the design margin, times 1.5 for the solar flare contribution when the orbit's annual dose is under 50 krad(Si). The mission displacement damage dose, as a 1 MeV neutron equivalent fluence, is the orbit's annual fluence times the duration and the margin, times 1.3 with the solar flare contribution.
When an orbit is set and a dose question has not been answered by hand, the mission dose answers it: above 30 krad(Si) the highest band, above 15 the next, above 5 the next, otherwise the lowest. The displacement damage question is answered the same way from the fluence, with steps at 1e10, 1e11, 1e12 and 5e12 neutrons per cm². An answer you give yourself always wins over the environment.