Radiation concerns in high-energy physics and the switched capacitor array controller in ATLAS

The increased energy and luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider, which is now under construction, have placed new demands on detector designers. The radiation levels within the detectors have become sufficiently high that a large portion of the research and development resources must be used to ensure that the detectors function in these radiation environments. The switched capacitor array controller in the ATLAS detector is used as an example of the challenges presented to experimental physicists who design detectors which operate in radiation fields. Some of the work involved in ensuring this device as radiation tolerant is presented. (14 refs).