Space and enhanced radiation induced effects in key photonic technologies

Advanced satellite concepts can be expected to have requirements for increased information handling and processing, minimal power budgets, electromagnetic compatibility and higher resistance to the natural Earth orbit and enhanced radiation environments. Photonics offers solutions to many of these requirements. The area of radiation hardening is of special interest, since traditional shielding designs used to prevent damage from radiation environments can be minimized through the choice of materials-and components with decreased radiation sensitivity. The hardening of components and systems without employing shielding can result in weight reduction thereby increasing payloads and cost effectiveness. This paper will concentrate on discussing the effects of ionizing radiation on photonic components. A succinct overview of radiation induced effects in: vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, fiber optics, fiber optic amplifiers acousto optic Bragg modulators, optical fibers, Bragg reflection gratings, integrated optic directional couplers and organic spatial light modulators are discussed. Presentation of data followed by a brief explanation of the physical underpinnings for the induced effects are accomplished