Radiation induced loss properties and hardness enhancement technique for ErYb doped fibers for avionic applications

Abstract

We present radiation reliability properties and their enhancement of ErYb doped optical fibers in terms of induced loss and lifetime prediction via master curve analysis method. In this study, we are primarily concerned with the effects of ionizing radiation on the performance of double cladded ErYb doped optical fibers in an accelerated low dose γ-radiation environment (i.e. <120rad/h rate) for high power optical amplifiers to be used in satellite communication systems. We demonstrate a novel method that utilizes pre-radiation exposure and thermal annealing, for enhancing radiation hardness of the fibers with respect to induced optical loss and lifetime prediction. Based on this method, we are able to modify radiation induced loss-rate properties of the fiber with an initial loss penalty, realizing overall loss-budget improvement for relatively long-term deployment (i.e. >5years). In a direct comparison to non-hardened ErYb doped fibers, we demonstrate approximately 0.16dB/m of radiation induced loss improvement including an initial loss penalty of 0.14dB for radiation-hardened fibers over a 10-year duration in a natural low dose (i.e. <0.3rad/h) radiation environment, i.e. low earth orbit.