In situ reactor radiation-induced attenuation in sapphire optical fibers heated up to 1000°C

Christian M. Petrie; Thomas E. Blue

doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2014.09.014

In situ reactor radiation-induced attenuation in sapphire optical fibers heated up to 1000°C

Christian M. Petrie, Thomas E. Blue

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to determine the suitability of using instrumentation utilizing sapphire optical fibers in a high temperature nuclear reactor environment. For this, the broadband (500-2200 nm, or 0.56-2.48 eV) optical transmission in commercially available sapphire optical fibers was monitored in situ prior to, during, and after reactor irradiation. Portions of the sapphire fibers were heated to temperatures up to 1000°C during irradiation. The sapphire fibers were irradiated, mostly at a neutron flux of 5.0 × 10¹¹ n/cm²/s and a gamma dose rate of 28 kGy/h (dose in sapphire), to a total neutron fluence of 6.4 × 10¹⁶ n/cm² and total gamma dose on the order of 1 MGy. Results were generally consistent with the results of previous in situ measurements of the transmission in unheated sapphire fibers during reactor irradiation. Added attenuation at 850, 1300, and 1550 nm, appears to be limited by the growth of radiation-induced defect centers that are located in the ultra violet to the visible range and is therefore less at 1300 and 1550 nm than at 850 nm. A linear increase in attenuation, due to displacement damage effects, was observed with increased irradiation time at constant reactor power. However, the rate of increase of the added attenuation during constant power reactor irradiation monotonically decreased with increasing temperature up to 1000°C, with the most significant decrease occurring between 300 and 600°C. Additional calculations predicted that the majority of (if not all of) the observed increases in attenuation during irradiation at 600 and 1000°C were due to effects in the unheated sections of the irradiated sapphire fibers. These results suggest that, for a reactor radiation environment similar to that tested in this work, heating sapphire fibers to temperatures of 600°C or greater during irradiation would significantly reduce (or possibly eliminate entirely) the rate of growth of the added attenuation in the sapphire fibers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	91-97
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume	342
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2014.09.014
State	Published - Jan 1 2015
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This research was performed using funding received from the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program ( NEUP 12-3456 ). Dr. Wolfgang Windl (The Ohio State University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering) served as co-investigator on the research project. Jon Greene (Lambda Instruments, Inc.) and Robert Fielder (TechOpp Consulting, Inc.) were collaborators on the project. Mark Hornak (materials science graduate student at The Ohio State University) and Brandon Wilson (nuclear engineering graduate student at The Ohio State University) also contributed. This material is based upon work supported under a Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Program Graduate Fellowship . This work also received funding from two Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research Grants ( DE-FG02-10ER85830 and DE-FG02-10ER85890 ).

Funders	Funder number
DOE Office of Nuclear Energy
Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research Grants	DE-FG02-10ER85890, DE-FG02-10ER85830
Office of Nuclear Energy	NEUP 12-3456

Keywords

Fiber
Heated
Optical
Radiation
Sapphire

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10.1016/j.nimb.2014.09.014

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title = "In situ reactor radiation-induced attenuation in sapphire optical fibers heated up to 1000°C",

abstract = "The purpose of this work was to determine the suitability of using instrumentation utilizing sapphire optical fibers in a high temperature nuclear reactor environment. For this, the broadband (500-2200 nm, or 0.56-2.48 eV) optical transmission in commercially available sapphire optical fibers was monitored in situ prior to, during, and after reactor irradiation. Portions of the sapphire fibers were heated to temperatures up to 1000°C during irradiation. The sapphire fibers were irradiated, mostly at a neutron flux of 5.0 × 1011 n/cm2/s and a gamma dose rate of 28 kGy/h (dose in sapphire), to a total neutron fluence of 6.4 × 1016 n/cm2 and total gamma dose on the order of 1 MGy. Results were generally consistent with the results of previous in situ measurements of the transmission in unheated sapphire fibers during reactor irradiation. Added attenuation at 850, 1300, and 1550 nm, appears to be limited by the growth of radiation-induced defect centers that are located in the ultra violet to the visible range and is therefore less at 1300 and 1550 nm than at 850 nm. A linear increase in attenuation, due to displacement damage effects, was observed with increased irradiation time at constant reactor power. However, the rate of increase of the added attenuation during constant power reactor irradiation monotonically decreased with increasing temperature up to 1000°C, with the most significant decrease occurring between 300 and 600°C. Additional calculations predicted that the majority of (if not all of) the observed increases in attenuation during irradiation at 600 and 1000°C were due to effects in the unheated sections of the irradiated sapphire fibers. These results suggest that, for a reactor radiation environment similar to that tested in this work, heating sapphire fibers to temperatures of 600°C or greater during irradiation would significantly reduce (or possibly eliminate entirely) the rate of growth of the added attenuation in the sapphire fibers.",

keywords = "Fiber, Heated, Optical, Radiation, Sapphire",

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doi = "10.1016/j.nimb.2014.09.014",

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AU - Blue, Thomas E.

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AB - The purpose of this work was to determine the suitability of using instrumentation utilizing sapphire optical fibers in a high temperature nuclear reactor environment. For this, the broadband (500-2200 nm, or 0.56-2.48 eV) optical transmission in commercially available sapphire optical fibers was monitored in situ prior to, during, and after reactor irradiation. Portions of the sapphire fibers were heated to temperatures up to 1000°C during irradiation. The sapphire fibers were irradiated, mostly at a neutron flux of 5.0 × 1011 n/cm2/s and a gamma dose rate of 28 kGy/h (dose in sapphire), to a total neutron fluence of 6.4 × 1016 n/cm2 and total gamma dose on the order of 1 MGy. Results were generally consistent with the results of previous in situ measurements of the transmission in unheated sapphire fibers during reactor irradiation. Added attenuation at 850, 1300, and 1550 nm, appears to be limited by the growth of radiation-induced defect centers that are located in the ultra violet to the visible range and is therefore less at 1300 and 1550 nm than at 850 nm. A linear increase in attenuation, due to displacement damage effects, was observed with increased irradiation time at constant reactor power. However, the rate of increase of the added attenuation during constant power reactor irradiation monotonically decreased with increasing temperature up to 1000°C, with the most significant decrease occurring between 300 and 600°C. Additional calculations predicted that the majority of (if not all of) the observed increases in attenuation during irradiation at 600 and 1000°C were due to effects in the unheated sections of the irradiated sapphire fibers. These results suggest that, for a reactor radiation environment similar to that tested in this work, heating sapphire fibers to temperatures of 600°C or greater during irradiation would significantly reduce (or possibly eliminate entirely) the rate of growth of the added attenuation in the sapphire fibers.

KW - Fiber

KW - Heated

KW - Optical

KW - Radiation

KW - Sapphire

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SN - 0168-583X

VL - 342

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JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

ER -

In situ reactor radiation-induced attenuation in sapphire optical fibers heated up to 1000°C

Abstract

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Keywords

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