Handbook of Radiation Effects

This revised second edition of a popular handbook for engineers describes the important relationship between high-energy radiation environments, electronic device physics and materials. It is a straightforward account of the problems which arise when high-energy radiation bombards matter and of engineering methods for solving those problems. Radiation effects are a problem encountered in the use of highly engineered materials such as semiconductors, optics and polymers. The finely-tuned properties of these materials may change drastically when exposed to a radiation environment such as a beam of X-rays or electrons, the space environment or the 'hadrons' in CERN's new collider. All of these environments and several more are described. 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 when describing high-energy radiation and the effects it produces, such as electronic failure, coloration and the decay of strength. A great breadth of technical data, such as may be needed to make quick decisions, is presented with literature references and a compendium of web-sites which have been tested and used by the authors.