Descrizione del progetto
Simulare i raggi cosmici galattici sulla Terra per collaudare l’elettronica spaziale
Per incrementare la competitività dell’Europa nell’esplorazione spaziale e nelle applicazioni in questo campo non è sufficiente lo sviluppo di sistemi e dispositivi. Un fattore critico, sebbene impegnativo, per il successo in tal senso è il loro collaudo nello spazio per valutarne le prestazioni. Il progetto HEARTS, finanziato dall’UE, si prefigge di sostenere la comunità spaziale in questo compito fornendo l’accesso al suo acceleratore di ioni pesanti ad alta energia, che è in grado di imitare gli effetti dei raggi cosmici galattici. Tali raggi, costituiti da particelle a energia molto elevata che viaggiano a una velocità prossima a quella della luce, hanno origine al di fuori del sistema solare e rappresentano una delle principali fonti di radiazione a cui i veicoli spaziali attuali e futuri devono resistere. Il team di HEARTS si propone di aiutare gli scienziati a garantire che la loro elettronica ad alta tecnologia sia effettivamente in grado di raggiungere questo obiettivo.
Obiettivo
The main purpose of the HEARTS proposal is to provide high-energy (>100 MeV/n) heavy ion accelerator access to space users, in order to mimic the effects of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) at ground level, and thus fulfilling the needs of microelectronics qualification and shielding & radiobiology experiments. These ions will successfully mimic the effects of heavy ions present in the GCR spectrum, and will also ensures penetration levels large enough to enable electronics testing in air, without the need of electronics device preparation (e.g. de-lidding, thinning) and at board and box level. High penetration ion irradiation is essential in order to facilitate the exploitation of high-end microelectronics technology in space, for e.g. onboard artificial intelligence or Big Data processing applications.
To this end, the HEARTS proposal features CERN and GSI as accelerator infrastructure partners, who also gather a vast experience and knowledge in radiation effects on electronics, and shielding & radiobiology, respectively.
Moreover, HEARTS features also the University of Padova as academic partner, and Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space as industrial participants, all of which have ample experience in the radiation effects domain, and a strong interest in VHE ion testing. The academic and industrial partners will define the requirements, both technical and procedural, for VHE ion user facilities. Such requirements will serve as input to CERN and GSI and will be implemented as upgrade which, once completed, will be scrutinized and validated by the industrial and academic partners, through “real case” experimental campaigns that will in turn serve as input for the development of VHE ion testing recommendations and guidelines.
Therefore, in final instance, HEARTS ambitions to create a high quality and sustainable VHE ion irradiation capacity in Europe, accessible to and tailored for space users and applications.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physics
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicsmicroelectronics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesnuclear chemistryradiation chemistry
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinatore
1211 GENEVE 23
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