07:30 - 08:30

REGISTRATION

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08:30 - 08:45

Short Course Introduction

KEN LABEL (NASA retired, US)

GUY MEYNANTS (KU Leuven, US)

 

08:45 - 09:30

Modeling The Natural Space Radiation Environment

Erwin De Donder (Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, BE)

For spacecraft missions to succeed, accurate models of the harsh space radiation environment are needed. In this short course the main radiation populations encountered in space and relevant to space system design and operation for interplanetary and near-Earth missions are presented. We start with explaining the need for space climate and space weather models to minimize mission risks and to manage residual risks during operation. Next, we focus on energetic plasma, planetary radiation belts, solar energetic particles, galactic cosmic rays and their propagation through the magnetosphere and atmosphere. Basic concepts are introduced to describe their location and dynamical behaviour. Finally, we overview the current state-of-the art models to simulate the different radiation populations, related uncertainties and their implementation for engineering. 

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09:30 - 10:15

Modeling the Natural Space Radiation Environment in the Presence of a Spacecraft

Insoo Jun (NASA/JPL, US)

Shielding design is a process of “transporting” external radiation environments in the presence of a spacecraft, thus estimating the internal radiation environment inside the spacecraft. Shielding analysis is required to ensure electronics and materials used in the spacecraft to meet the mission success criteria. This section introduces typical and basic shielding analysis processes for a space mission (with a flow chart), and how to relate the shielding analysis with mission success requirements. This section also provides brief discussions on dose-depth curves and radiation transport codes widely used in the space community. 

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10:15 - 10:45

Coffee Break

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10:45 -  11:30

Modeling Radiation Interaction with Semiconductor Materials

Cristophe Inguimbert (ONERA, FR)

In the space domain, the use of radiation transport tools is very common. They are used to estimate energy deposits in micro-volumes for assessing SEU rates and to calculate ionizing dose profiles to evaluate a wide range of effects, both in electronic components and in thermal control coating materials. There is also a strong focus on evaluating damage doses, particularly to assess the condition of solar panels throughout a satellite’s lifespan and to measure degradation effects, especially in optoelectronic components. These codes, or evaluation methods in general, rely on more fundamental physical quantities such as energy loss per unit length, interaction cross-sections, or even mean free paths. These parameters are highly useful; when applied appropriately, they provide a first-order understanding of observed effects at the system scale. However, they are often overlooked in favor of powerful Monte Carlo codes, which allow for straightforward and quantitative answers. Nevertheless, the effective use of these advanced computational methods is significantly enhanced when engineers have a strong grasp of the underlying physical concepts. For instance, with increasing component integration leading to size reduction, average parameters like LET and NIEL are becoming less relevant. This presentation aims to revisit the fundamental physical concepts and highlight the limitations of their application.

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11:30 - 12:15

Modeling Transistor and Device Level Radiation Effects

Daniel Loveless (Indiana University, US)

This short course provides a comprehensive review of radiation effects on transistors and their subsequent impact on circuit-level performance. The fundamental aspects of radiation transport are overviewed, followed by a summary of total ionizing dose and single-event effects. The course provides a historical perspective on the evolution of radiation modeling techniques, introducing the Rectangular Parallel Piped (RPP) model and fundamental principles underlying radiation effect simulations, and building to transistor-to-system modeling techniques. The short course concludes with an overview of recent advancements in modeling and simulation capabilities.

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12:15 - 13:45

Lunch

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13:45  - 14:30

Design Tools For Assisting Analog/Mixed-signal Circuit Against Radiation Effects

Zheyi Li (imec, BE) in collaboration with Laurent Berti

This short course presents an overview of design methodologies and tools aimed at enhancing the resilience of analog and mixed-signal circuits against radiation-induced effects. Emphasizing a radiation-aware approach across all stages of the design flow, the course begins with an introduction categorizing key tools used in this domain, including general-purpose tools, TCAD-based simulations, and SPICE-level tools tailored for electrical behavior analysis and design constraint evaluation. Further, the course explores Total Ionizing Dose (TID) corner tools developed for both mature (180 nm) and advanced (22 nm) technology nodes, highlighting their impact on mismatch degradation and performance variability. The modeling and mitigation of Single Event Effects (SEE) are also addressed, with attention to bulk devices using double-exponential current models, and FD-SOI technologies incorporating bipolar amplification effects. A calibrated SEE striker model is introduced, supported by test vehicle (TV) validation. The course concludes with a practical design example that illustrates the integration of these tools and techniques in a design context.

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14:30 -15:15

Modelling Displacement Damage Effects in Imagers

Antoine Jay (LAAS CNRS, FR)

Radiative environments cause atomic-scale displacements in materials, which are responsible for the deterioration of electronic devices. These displacements introduce new electronic states within the forbidden band gap of the material. These states can act as bridges, allowing electrons to thermally cross the band gap. This phenomenon manifests physically as an increased electron-hole generation rate.

This short course provides an overview of multiscale methodologies used to study the effects of radiation damage in electronic devices. It covers the entire process, starting from the initial particle-matter interactions (simulated using GEANT4), followed by the collision cascades (studied via Molecular Dynamics), long-time annealing processes (using kART), the electronic properties of defects such as energy levels and capture cross sections (calculated using DFT), and finally the application of SRH theory to a simple PN junction.

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15:15 - 15:45

Coffee Break

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15:45 - 16:30

Predicting On-Orbit Performance of Devices

Greg Allen (NASA/JPL, US)

This short course presentation explores key methodologies used to estimate the on-orbit performance of electronic devices exposed to space radiation. Topics include radiation design factors (RDF), worst-case analysis (WCA), and statistical methods for deriving failure thresholds and SEE rates. Approaches for bounding and estimating rates are discussed in the context of uncertainty, risk, and mission duration. The role of board-level testing and proton contributions is addressed, with an emphasis on appropriate use and interpretation. The talk emphasizes balancing rigor and practicality to support system-relevant mission assurance.

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16:30 - 17:15

Modeling System Level Radiation Performance

Michael Campola (NASA/GSFC, US) 

This short course explores complementary approaches to system-level radiation effects modeling in spacecraft; we examine how these methodologies address the increasing complexity of modern spacecraft systems through temporal fault trees, Bayesian inference, hardware-software co-analysis, and multi-physics simulations. The framework presented bridges the gap between component-level radiation phenomena and system-level performance, providing practical guidance for comprehensive radiation hardness assurance across diverse mission profiles.

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17:15 - 18:00

Experimental and Flight Validation of Radiation Device Models

Christian Poivey (ESA, NL)

Radiation testing is essential to feed, calibrate and validate the different radiation models: space environment models, shielding models, radiation effect models and SEE rates calculation models. This course will show some examples. Then, we will then discuss how flight data complements ground test data. data. Finally, we will discuss flight heritage.

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18:00

End Short Course