Radiation Tolerant Optical Fibers: From Sample Testing to Large Series Production

Author

Wijnands, Thijs ; Aikawa, Kazuhiko ; Kuhnhenn, Jochen ; Ricci, Daniel ; Weinand, Udo

Author_Institution

Eur. Lab. for Particle Phys., CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

Volume

29

Issue

22

fYear

2011

Firstpage

3393

Lastpage

3400

Abstract

The process of selecting, manufacturing, and installing a large quantity (2500 km) of commercially available radiation tolerant specialty fibers is described. Radiation tests of various types of fibers from different manufacturers provided sufficient understanding of the radiation effects to select the best performing fiber type. Systematic verification of a sample of each preform assured a constant quality of the series production and allowed assessing the impact of small variations in the manufacturing process on the radiation hardness and the optical transmission characteristics. The fiber cable installation technique based on microjetting and plastic cable ducts has been validated for areas with high levels of radiation.

Keywords

optical cables; optical fibre fabrication; optical fibre testing; radiation hardening; fiber cable installation; large series production; manufacturing; microjetting; optical transmission; plastic cable ducts; radiation effects; radiation hardness; radiation tolerant optical fibers; sample testing; selection; Attenuation; Doping; Large Hadron Collider; Optical fiber cables; Optical fibers; Production; Radiation effects; Fluorine doping; The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); large hadron collider (LHC); microduct cabling; optical fiber; radiation induced attenuation (RIA);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2011.2168512

Filename

6021328