空间中子辐射及其测量技术

空间辐射环境包含大量高能带电粒子,其与航天器的结构材料相互作用会产生次级中子辐射,由于这些中子的平均品质因子是带电粒子的约4~5倍,因而对生物组织的剂量当量相对贡献更大。由于中子与物质的作用机制更为复杂,测量难度大,使得准确测量空间中子注量及其剂量当量贡献成为空间辐射剂量学中最具挑战性的工作之一。主要介绍了空间中子辐射的产生机制以及国外相关测量方法及其相关校准技术的研究状况。

Space Neutron Radiation and Its Measuring Techniques

Secondary neutrons are produced by the interaction between the materials of spacecraft and high-energy charged particles in cosmic environment.The average quality factor of these neutrons tends to be 4～5 times greater than that of charged particles,therefore,their relative contribution to dose equivalent for biological tissue is more significant.As a result of the complicated reaction mechanism of neutrons with matter and the larger difficulty for neutron measurement,the accurate measurements of neutron fluence and their contribution to dose equivalent during spaceflight become one of the greatest challenges in space radiation dosimetry.This paper refers to the production of space neutrons and their some measuring methods and the corresponding calibration techniques.