Optical fibers gather numerous advantages encouraging to integrate them in applications with radiative environments, associated with the civil, space or military fields.
Fiber opticCable
Producing radiation-resistant optical fiber cords
Optical fibers gather numerous advantages encouraging to integrate them in applications with radiative environments, associated with the civil, space or military fields. However, standard silica optical fibers are vulnerable in a nuclear environment.
KeyFeatures
- Radiation resistance > 1 GGy,
- Immunity to electromagnetic effects,
- Soldered assembly (no polymer),
- Hermetic design,
Indeed, when exposed to a high radiation environment for an extended period, such as in a nuclear facility, conventional silica optical fibers suffer from a transitory increase of the Radiation-Induced Attenuation (RIA): the electrons are trapped in the glass due to ionizing radiation, resulting in the degradation and loss of signal.
Moreover, it takes time for the fiber optic to recover from the radiation after the radiation source is removed. Depending on the light sources, radiation doses, and temperature, the fiber may or may not completely recover to its original state.
SEDI-ATI has designed innovative fiber-optic cables and assemblies that withstand extreme irradiation conditions. We partner with renowned fiber-optic manufacturers to co-develop special preforms to draw unique singlemode and multimode optical fibers with outstanding properties!
We can design different types of radiation-resistant fiber assemblies such as bundles, bifurcated bundles, fan-outs, integrated hermetic feedthroughs, and even seal sapphire windows at one end of the assembly.
Case studies
Scintillating fiber dosimeter for radiology
SEDI-ATI designs scintillating fiber optic probes for dosimeter applications applied to radiology.