Recent Advances in Optical Fiber Enabled Radiation Sensors

Abstract

Optical fibers are being widely utilized as radiation sensors and dosimeters. Benefiting from the rapidly growing optical fiber manufacturing and material engineering, advanced optical fibers have evolved significantly by using functional structures and materials, promoting their detection accuracy and usage scenarios as radiation sensors. This paper summarizes the current development of optical fiber-based radiation sensors. The sensing principles of both extrinsic and intrinsic optical fiber radiation sensors, including radiation-induced attenuation (RIA), radiation-induced luminescence (RIL), and fiber grating wavelength shifting (RI-GWS), were analyzed. The relevant advanced fiber materials and structures, including silica glass, doped silica glasses, polymers, fluorescent and scintillator materials, were also categorized and summarized based on their characteristics. The fabrication methods of intrinsic all-fiber radiation sensors were introduced, as well. Moreover, the applicable scenarios from medical dosimetry to industrial environmental monitoring were discussed. In the end, both challenges and perspectives of fiber-based radiation sensors and fiber-shaped radiation dosimeters were presented.

A Couple-Free Structured LuAG:Ce-LuAG Scintillating Single Crystal Fiber Grown by a Laser-Heated Pedestal Growth Method

“…A persistent challenge with LuAG:Ce SSCF lies in the self-absorption effect of Ce 3+ ions, which can result in significant scintillation light attenuation along the transmission process . In many existing radiation dose detectors, a short scintillator segment is often coupled with a transmission fiber such as the quartz optical fiber or plastic scintillating fibers − to address this issue. The role of the transmission fiber is to collect the scintillation signal from the scintillator, allowing for radiation signal detection.…”

Scintillator‐oriented near‐infrared emitting Cs4SrI6:Yb2+, Sm2+ single crystals via sensitization strategy

“…[15][16][17][18][19] In case of bulk materials, the low light loss in optical fibers makes NIR emitting scintillators particularly suitable for long-distance radiation dose monitoring in extreme environments like nuclear reactors and nuclear ruins. [20][21][22][23][24] In medical dosimetry, scintillation probes connected by optical fibers are deployed nowadays. 25 Importantly, Cherenkov radiation, produced in optical fiber mostly in UV and blue region, increases the detection system response in badly defined way and complicates evaluation in case of UV/VIS emitting scintillators.…”

“…In the form of nanosized probes, they can be used for X‐ray induced in vivo imaging, since NIR photons emitted by the scintillator are not much absorbed in soft tissue so that scintillation light can be collected from bigger depth of the body 15–19 . In case of bulk materials, the low light loss in optical fibers makes NIR emitting scintillators particularly suitable for long‐distance radiation dose monitoring in extreme environments like nuclear reactors and nuclear ruins 20–24 . In medical dosimetry, scintillation probes connected by optical fibers are deployed nowadays 25 .…”

Laser Welding of Fiber and Quartz Glass Ferrule

“…The components of optical fiber sensors must usually be firmly connected on a small scale for use in devices or systems that are deployed in harsh environments. Because optical fiber is composed of quartz glass, quartz glass is preferred over SiC [ 12 ] and other materials for designing optical fiber sensors with excellent performance [ 13 ]. The connection between glasses is a key problem; it has an important impact on the performance and environment of the sensor.…”