Estimation of radiation effects in the front-end electronics of an ILC electromagnetic calorimeter

The front-end electronics of the electromagnetic calorimeter of an International Linear Collider detector are situated in a radiation environment. This requires the effect of the radiation on the performance of the electronics, specifically FPGAs, to be examined. In this paper we study the flux, particle spectra and deposited doses at the front-end electronics of the electromagnetic calorimeter of a detector at the ILC. We also study the occupancy of the electromagnetic calorimeter. These estimates are compared with measurements, e.g. of the radiation damage of FPGAs, done elsewhere. The outcome of the study shows that the radiation doses and the annual flux is low enough to allow today’s FPGAs to operate. The Single Event Upset rate however lies between 14 minutes and 12 hours depending on the FPGA used and therefore needs to be considered in the design of the data acquisition system of the electromagnetic calorimeter. The occupancy is about 0.002 per bunch train not taking into account the effect of noise which depends on the choice of the detector.