Networks and telecommunications
(5)
Information Technologies
(12)
Personal Computer
(13)
EMAIL
(7)
Communication
(4)
Documentation
(1)
Collaborative tools
(12)
Remote conferencing
(5)
IT Organization
(25)
IT Security
(4)
Scientific computing
(1)
Innov’Space
High Performance Computing
(16)
Digital Learning
(10)
Education licences softwares
(5)
Digital rooms
(6)
Administration management
(10)
Human Resources
(5)
Administrative Schooling
(2)
A FOG CHAMBER TO SEE THE INVISIBLE
Published wednesday 27 January 2021
Modified 6 September 2021.
Installed since the start of the 2020 academic year, a cloud chamber makes cosmic and terrestrial radiation visible. This equipment is located on the first floor of the Department of Electronics, Optronics and Signals (DEOS) and is designed to help students study the natural radiative environment that affects the development of on-board aerospace electronic systems.
The natural radioactivity in the environment includes many different ionizing particles. These particles are very small and move at high speed, making them invisible to the naked eye. They can be distinguished from each other by the shape of their tracks in the cloud chamber.
The principle of this chamber is based on maintaining a layer of supersaturated alcohol vapour on a plate cooled to -30°C. In this region, the charged particles produce a trace of condensation points leading to the formation of an alcohol cloud visible to the naked eye. This phenomenon is similar to the formation of a water cloud called a contrail when a jet plane flies through a supersaturated region of the atmosphere.
TOOLS FOR TRAINING AND RESEARCH
This equipment, acquired within the framework of the Nuclétudes Chair, enables ISAE-SUPAERO students to become aware of the effects of radiative environments (atmospheric neutrons, cosmic rays, radiation belts, solar flares, etc.) on on-board systems, whether they be space systems, launchers, avionics systems, computing centres or on-board electronics in automobiles.
The miniaturization and refinement of electronic chips imply a growing sensitivity to the natural radiation environment. Today, considering the risks linked to radiation in the development of advanced electronic systems is becoming a necessity. In this sense, ISAE-SUPAERO is interested in the effects of ionizing particles on electronic components and systems. The Institute is therefore considering the techniques and methods to be implemented during the design or operation of critical electronic systems to protect them against any malfunction.
To counter the impact of the natural radiative environment on system design, ISAE-SUPAERO and NUCLETUDES have signed a chair to highlight, for the Institute’s students, the major role of electronics in modern aeronautical and space systems, which require the implementation of protection solutions essential to the robustness of these systems throughout their lifetime. The lessons linked to this chair highlight the need to take into account, from the design phase, the disturbances induced by these radiations on the onboard electronic systems to guarantee their robustness.