In this contribution, the impact of extreme environmental conditions in terms of energy-level radiation of protons on silicon–germanium (SiGe)-integrated circuits is experimentally studied. Canonical representative structures including linear (passive interconnects/antennas) and non-linear (low-noise amplifiers) are used as carriers for assessing the impact of aggressive stress conditions on their performances. Perspectives for holistic modeling and characterization approaches accounting for various interaction mechanisms (substrate resistivity variations, couplings/interferences, drift in DC and radio frequency (RF) characteristics) for active samples are down to allow for optimal solutions in pushing SiGe technologies toward applications with harsh and radiation-intense environments (e.g. space, nuclear, military). Specific design prototypes are built for assessing mission-critical profiles for emerging RF and mm-wave applications.

This paper reports the measurement of the energy loss of protons at the energy of 100 keV penetrating a partially ionized hydrogen plasma. The plasma of ne ≈ 1015–16 cm−3; Te ≈ 1–2 eV and lifetime of about 8 µs is created by the hydrogen gas discharge. The experimental results show an increase of a factor of 2.8 in the energy loss, which are in good agreement with the Bethe, Standard Stopping Model, Li–Petrasso and Vlasov models’ predictions within the error limit. The Bethe–Bloch Coulomb logarithm term is found to increase by a factor of 4.0 for free electrons as compared with the situation where bound electrons prevail. The potential application of protons energy loss for diagnosing the electron density in plasma is proposed too.

The reduction in dose received by normal tissue is essential in radiotherapy to reduce the chance of late side-effects. This is especially true in paediatric radiotherapy as any late-effects can seriously impair the future quality of life experienced by the treated child.

Particle therapy uses high-energy particles to deliver a surgically precise beam of energy to a pre-determined position in the body. Common side-effects associated with conventional radiotherapy (CRT) are considerably reduced, often virtually eliminated, owing to the reduction in dose received by neighbouring healthy tissues, improving future quality of life. The superior accuracy of particles also means the dose can be escalated improving control rates.

Clinical trials, reviews and planning studies have been reviewed to assess the benefits and limitations offered by particle therapy in paediatric treatments. The reduced integral dose and improved conformity is clearly highlighted throughout these studies, demonstrating the potential advantages available with particles when treating paediatric patients.

The data suggest that the advantages experienced with particle therapy result in a significant reduction in the side-effects experienced and therefore an improvement in quality of life when compared with conventional therapy. Owing to the reduction of subsequent sequelae, paediatric patients need to be considered when designing and constructing a particle centre in the UK.