KEYWORDS: Optical fibers, Temperature metrology, Single mode fibers, Data modeling, Color centers, Gamma radiation, Multimode fibers, Phase only filters, Environmental sensing, Thermal effects
The many advantages of optical fibers for their use in various nuclear environments ushered the respective communities to extensive studies over the last decades. Forecasting the behavior of fiber-optic links exposed to ionizing radiation still remains an important issue. We have developed an industry-aimed pragmatic method based on a simple model for the prediction of radiation induced losses in commercially available optical fibers exposed to 60Co gamma rays. When environmental and measurement conditions are well defined, long-term losses could be predicted with a precision of about 15%, for dose rates ranging between 100 Gy/h and 3 kGy/h and total doses up to MGy levels. Thermally induced effects were also considered, between ambient temperature and 80 degree(s)C. From an interpretation of these results, we discuss its applicability and potential further improvements.
Optical fiber technology is seriously considered for communication and monitoring applications during the operation and maintenance of future thermonuclear fusion reactors. Their environment is characterized, in particular, by possibly high gamma dose-rates and total doses up to 100 MGy. The feasibility of applying photonic technique in such intense radiation fields therefore needs to be assessed. Whereas many reports deal with the radiation behavior of a variety of fiber-optic devices, only little information is available on the radiation tolerance at high total dose (e.g. > 1 MGy). We describe our recent results obtained at fiber-optic components intended for ITER (International thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) remote-handling applications. We have conducted high total dose (up to 15 MGy) irradiation experiments on a variety of COTS fiber- optic devices, including edge-emitting laser diodes, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, PIN photodiodes and single-mode optical fibers. A remarkably low radiation induced loss was obtained on a single-mode pure silica core optical fiber, whereas VCSELs confirmed their excellent radiation hardness. With the exception of photodiodes, the optical characteristics of selected fiber-optic devices seem to be able to cope with high total gamma doses. However, our results also indicate that radiation induced degradation of connector assemblies might limit their use in severe radiation environments.
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