Tissue equivalence correction in silicon microdosimetry for protons characteristic of the LEO Space Environment

The tissue equivalence of solid state silicon detectors in proton radiation fields was determined to improve the radiation protection applications of silicon detectors in aviation and space missions. The study was performed by means of Geant4 simulations. Results are presented showing that a simple geometrical scaling factor (~0.56) of linear dimensions is adequate to convert experimentally obtained microdosimetric energy deposition spectra in silicon to equivalent microdosimetric energy deposition spectra in water.