TITLE:
An Assessment of Rare Earth Aluminates as Possible Radiation Shields for Artificial Satellites in Low Earth Orbit
AUTHORS:
Ernesto Ortiz, José Francisco Valdés-Galicia, Rocío García, Lorenzo M. Martínez de la Escalera, Marcos Anzorena, Lorenzo Martínez-Gómez
KEYWORDS:
Rare Earth Aluminates, Cosmic Radiation, Artificial Satellites
JOURNAL NAME:
Materials Sciences and Applications,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
26,
2018
ABSTRACT: Charged particles injected into dielectric material
of artificial satellites may cause data flipping, command errors and charges in
dielectric material properties. In this work we report the results of an
evaluation of rare earth aluminates as possible radiation shields for its
application in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite construction. With help of
Geant4 software, we calculated the radiation
dose that a target receives at a typical LEO (685 km) as a function of the
shield thickness. The target used was a silicon plate, the shields used were
hollow cubes of rare earth aluminate walls (YAlO3, LaAlO3,
NdAlO3 and GdAlO3), and we also
used aluminium oxide (Al2O3). The radiation source was the measured fluxes of electron and proton with a
spectrum corresponding to a LEO. We found that of the total radiation dose
received by the target without shield is 5847 microGy/hour, of which, the electrons
contribute with 94.9% and the protons with 5.1%. The rare earth aluminates are
a better shield than the Al2O3 to protect a target
against the radiation that permeates a LEO near to equator.