The Operation of Acoustic Surface Wave Delay Lines in a Nuclear Environment

The operation of three types of surface wave acoustic devices; a lithium niobate delay line, a quartz pulse-compression filter and a quartz binary-phase-coded (BPC) delay line, in a nuclear environment are investigated. Neutron irradiation up to 5 × 1015 N/cm2 (E>10 keV) and exposure to 4 × 108 rads of 60Co gamma rays results in no changes. Transient ionizing radiation, occurring at the time when an electrical signal is being converted to acoustic energy, decreases the amplitude and changes the phase of the signal. Once the signal is transmitting in the device as acoustic energy it is generally unaffected by ionizing radiation up to 1011 rad(Si)/sec. However, in the case of the BPC device, functional operation is impaired above levels of 4 × 108 rad(Si)/sec.