A hydrogenated amorphous silicon detector for Space Weather applications
journal contribution
posted on 2024-11-17, 15:31 authored by Catia Grimani, Michele Fabi, Federico Sabbatini, Mattia Villani, Luca Antognini, Aishah Bashiri, Lucio Calcagnile, Anna Paola Caricato, Roberto Catalano, Deborah Chilà, Giuseppe Antonio Pablo Cirrone, Tommaso Croci, Giacomo Cuttone, Sylvain Dunand, Luca Frontini, Maria Ionica, Keida Kanxheri, Matthew Large, Valentino Liberali, Maurizio Martino, Giuseppe Maruccio, Giovanni Mazza, Mauro Menichelli, Anna Grazia Monteduro, Arianna Morozzi, Francesco Moscatelli, Stefania Pallotta, Daniele Passeri, Maddalena PedioThe characteristics of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) detector are presented here for monitoring in space solar flares and the evolution of strong to extreme energetic proton events. The importance and the feasibility to extend the proton measurements up to hundreds of MeV is evaluated. The a-Si:H presents an excellent radiation hardness and finds application in harsh radiation environments for medical purposes, for particle beam characterization and, as we propose here, for space weather science applications. The critical flux detection limits for X rays, electrons and protons are discussed.