Proton-induced bit error studies in a 10 gb/s fiber optic link

We describe a stand-alone experiment with autonomous error checking and logging used to acquire proton-induced bit error response of a 10 Gb/s multimode fiber optic data link operating over a 100-m fiber length. Comparisons with previously tested lower data rate data links indicate the primary source of bit errors arise in the link receiver´s photodiode. The serial 10 Gb/s results show relatively lower bit error rate (BER) sensitivity to 63 MeV protons. Proton BER results of supporting high-speed bipolar multiplexer and demultiplexer circuitry are also presented.