Real-time, in situ probing of gamma radiation damage with packaged integrated photonic chips

Abstract

Integrated photonics is poised to become a mainstream solution for high-speed data communications and sensing in harsh radiation environments such as outer space, high-energy physics (HEP) facilities, nuclear power plants, and test fusion reactors. Understanding the impact of radiation damage in optical materials and devices is thus a prerequisite to building radiationhard photonic systems for these applications. In this paper, we report real-time, in-situ analysis of radiation damage in integrated photonic devices. The devices, integrated with an optical fiber array package and a baseline-correction temperature sensor, can be remotely interrogated while exposed to ionizing radiations over a long period without compromising their structural and optical integrity. We also introduce a method to deconvolve the radiation damage responses from different constituent materials in a device. The approach was implemented to quantify Gamma radiation damage and post-radiation relaxation behavior of SiO2-cladded SiC photonic devices. Our findings suggest that densification induced by Compton scattering displacement defects is the primary mechanism for the observed refractive index change in SiC. Additionally, post-radiation relaxation in amorphous SiC does not restore the original pre-irradiated structural state of the material. Our results further point to the potential of realizing radiation-hard photonic device designs taking advantage of the opposite signs of radiation-induced refractive index changes in SiC and SiO2.

Nanoscale Stress Localization Effects on the Radiation Susceptibility of GaN High‐Mobility Transistors

“…[20] Gamma radiation generates high-energy electrons through the Compton scattering process, which create Frenkel pairs and defect clusters that can migrate, recombine, or form complexes. [21][22][23] The damage process, therefore, depends on the electron concentration and mobility in the material. The HEMT is a unique structure with AlGaN and GaN layers that are different in terms of carrier concentration.…”

A Review of Semiconductor Based Ionising Radiation Sensors Used in Harsh Radiation Environments and Their Applications

“…In addition, recent times have seen the emergence of new semiconductor devices and memory technologies as a result of continuous scientific efforts [128,129]. Recently, silicon photonic devices have also been experimented to find out the radiation effects [130][131][132][133]. The radiation sensors based on Si-diode, Si-photodiode, MOSFET devices with planar structures (RADFET, FOXFET, FG-MOS) and SRAM are already well investigated, but still their performances can possibly be improved in the future with better readout electronics.…”

Photonic integrated circuits for high-throughput optical communications and ranging satellite links

“…21,22 However, several studies showed promising results in terms of resilience to the space environment. For example, total ionizing dose (TID), which is one of the main radiation effects, does not introduce significant additional losses in InP, 23 Si, 24,25 SiN, 26 a-Si, 26,27 SiC, 28 and SiO 2 29 waveguides. Several studies did measure a change in the waveguide effective index, 20,[23][24][25][26] which can impact phase sensitive devices such as filters and (de)multiplexers.…”