FLUKA Capabilities and CERN Applications for the Study of Radiation Damage to Electronics at High-Energy Hadron Accelerators

The assessment of radiation damage to electronics is a complex process and requires a detailed description of the full particle energy spectra, as well as a clear characterization of the quantities used to predict radiation damage. FLUKA, a multi-purpose particle interaction and transport code, is capable of calculating proton-proton and heavy ion collisions at LHC energies and beyond. It correctly describes the entire hadronic and electromagnetic particle cascade initiated by secondary particles from TeV energies down to thermal neutrons, and provides direct scoring capabilities essential to estimate in detail the possible risk of radiation damage to electronics. This paper presents the FLUKA capabilities for applications related to radiation damage to electronics, providing benchmarking examples and showing the practical applications of FLUKA at CERN facilities such as CNGS and LHC. Related applications range from the study of device effects, the detailed characterization of the radiation field and radiation monitor calibration, to the input requirements for important mitigation studies including shielding, relocation or other options.