Effects of multilayer and multimaterial structures on space proton radiation protection

An investigation of multilayer (and multimaterial) structures for space proton radiation protection is presented. In this research, both the role of the material itself on the shielding efficiency and the effect of the structure of the shield were considered. By using simulations with the software package Geant4, the shielding efficiencies for high energy protons were calculated for three different materials (aluminum, copper and tantalum) and for two multilayer structures. It was found that the optimum solar proton protection is obtained with a multilayer structure. In order to prove the validity of simulation results, 9 MeV proton irradiation experiments were performed. The good agreement between simulation results and experimental data confirms that the Geant4 code can be used to accurately calculate high-energy proton radiation protection.