Neutron radiation effects on an electronic system on module

Abstract

The NUMEN (NUclear Matrix Elements for Neutrinoless double beta decay) project was recently proposed with the aim to investigate the nuclear response to Double Charge Exchange reactions for all the isotopes explored by present and future studies of 0νββ decay. The expected level of radiation in the NUMEN experiment imposes severe limitations on the average lifetime of the electronic devices. During the experiments, it is expected that the electronic devices will be exposed to about 105 neutrons/cm2/s according to FLUKA simulations. This paper investigates the reliability of a System On Module (SOM) under neutron radiation. The tests were performed using thermal, epithermal, and fast neutrons produced by the Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares 4.5 MW Nuclear Research Reactor. The results show that the National Instruments SOM is robust to neutron radiation for the proposed applications in the NUMEN project.