Abstract
The potential of fiber-based sensors to monitor the fluence of atmospheric neutrons is evaluated through accelerated tests at the TRIUMF Neutron Facility (TNF) (BC, Canada), offering a flux approximatively 109 higher than the reference spectrum observed under standard conditions in New York City, USA. The radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) at 1625 nm of a phosphorus-doped radiation sensitive optical fiber is shown to linearly increase with neutron fluence, allowing an in situ and easy monitoring of the neutron flux and fluence at this facility. Furthermore, our experiments show that the fiber response remains sensitive to the ionization processes, at least up to a fluence of 7.1 × 1011 n cm−², as its radiation sensitivity coefficient (~3.36 dB km−1 Gy−1) under neutron exposure remains very similar to the one measured under X-rays (~3.8 dB km−1 Gy−1) at the same wavelength. The presented results open the way to the development of a point-like or even a distributed dosimeter for natural or man-made neutron-rich environments. The feasibility to measure the dose caused by the neutron exposure during stratospheric balloon experiments, or during outer space missions, is presented as a case study of a potential future application.
Highlights
Cosmic rays from deep space and high-energy solar particles strike the Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they interact with its oxygen and nitrogen atoms to produce particle cascades of secondary radiation
We investigate here the feasibility of monitoring the neutron flux with a fiber sensor, during stratospheric balloon experiments
We characterized the radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) of a phosphorus-doped single-mode optical fiber when exposed to a high flux neutron environment
Summary
Cosmic rays from deep space and high-energy solar particles strike the Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they interact with its oxygen and nitrogen atoms to produce particle cascades of secondary radiation. Sensors 2020, 20, 4510 decreases at lower altitude, the flux being on the order of ~103 n cm−2 h−1 at an airplane’s altitude (~40,000 ft), and ~10 n cm−2 h−1 at sea level [3] Monitoring these atmospheric neutrons is of major importance, since it has been shown that they are able to cause single event effects (SEEs) in modern micro-electronic technologies, affecting the performance and reliability of modern highly-integrated devices operating in altitude or even at the Earth’s surface [4]. If this energy deposition results in a charge collection exceeding the critical charge of the technology used, different SEEs are susceptible to occur [5]
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