Author(s)

Ernesto Ortiz¹, José Francisco Valdés-Galicia², Rocío García², Lorenzo M. Martínez de la Escalera³, Marcos Anzorena², Lorenzo Martínez-Gómez¹

¹Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
²Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
³Corrosión y Protección (CyP), Ciudad de México, Mexico.

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.

Rare Earth Aluminates, Cosmic Radiation, Artificial Satellites

Ortiz, E. , Valdés-Galicia, J. , García, R. , de la Escalera, L. , Anzorena, M. and Martínez-Gómez, L. (2018) An Assessment of Rare Earth Aluminates as Possible Radiation Shields for Artificial Satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Materials Sciences and Applications, 9, 430-439. doi: 10.4236/msa.2018.94029.