authored by members of the NPSS......
Handbook of Radiation Effects: Second Edition

by Andrew Holmes-Siedle, Technical Director, REM Oxford Ltd. and Consultant to Brunel University and
Len Adams, Honorary Professor Associate, Brunel University.
Oxford University Press, Jan 2002, ISBN 0-19-850733-X.

The first edition of this handbook was developed from an engineering guidebook for building electronics to withstand space radiation. The book was broadened to be useful in other branches of design and engineering. Severe environments such as medical accelerators, robots, nuclear power, sterilization, high-energy physics, weapons environments were included. New material on human risk and detector design was also written. Over ten years later, in 2002, considering the revolutionary changes in some electronic devices, it was time for an update. Another round of new topics was also inserted. As a result of this evolution, a great breadth of technical information on radiation effects, with careful explanations, literature references and a compendium of websites has been presented. Its uses have become wider than and engineer’s guide - it will also find uses in graduate courses teaching about radiation and modern technology.

This revised edition aims first and foremost to give straightforward account of the relationship between high-energy radiation environments, electronic device physics and materials. Problems arise when highly engineered materials such as semiconductors, optics and polymers are used in a radiation environment. The finely-adjusted properties of these materials often change dramatically when exposed to a radiation environment such as a beam of X-rays or electrons, the nuclear and space environment or the ‘hadrons’ in CERN’s new collider. The book describes all of these environments and several more. At the core of this book is a discussion of the impact of these environments on the devices used in computing, data processing and communication. While unashamedly oriented to the engineer-designer and manager, with descriptions in a highly readable form, there is no compromise in physical accuracy in the description of high-energy radiation and the effects it produces, such as electronic failure, coloration and the decay of strength. Advanced scientific training is not required for the understanding of the material as presented.

A list of the contents follows. Bold type picks out the topics new in the 2nd edition.

• Radiation, Physics and Measurement;
• Radiation Environments including human risks from the terrestrial environment;
• Response of Materials and Devices to Radiation including defect cascades;
• Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) Devices including dual dielectrics and the new submicron designs of integrated circuit;
• Bipolar Transistors; Diodes, Solar Cells, Optoelectronics;
• Power Devices;
• Optical Media including a new table of colour centres and “colorability of materials”;
• Polymers including electronic organic films;
• Shielding;
• Computer Methods;
• Radiation Testing;
• Radiation-Hardening of Parts;
• Equipment and Hardness Assurance; Appendices:
• Useful general and geophysical data;
• Useful radiation data including Ci-Bq chart;
• Useful data on materials;
• A comprehensive bibliography of MOSFET dosimetry;
• new SPENVIS depth vs. dose curves for typical satellite orbits;
• Degradation in polymers;
• Compendium of Websites;
• Over 500 new references.

This book was authored by two members of IEEE-NPSS. Andrew Holmes-Siedle, the winner of the 2001 Radiation Effects Award, can be reached at REM Oxford Ltd., 64A Acre End St, Eynsham, WITNEY, Oxfordshire OX29 4PD, ENGLAND; Phone: +44 (0) 18 65 88 00 50; Fax: +44 (0) 18 65 88 00 30; E-mail: holmes.siedle@dial.pipex.com