Radiation Hardness of Fiber Bragg Grating Thermometers

Photonics sensing has long been valued for its tolerance to harsh environments where traditional sensing technologies fail. As photonic components continue to evolve and find new applications, their tolerance to radiation is emerging as an important line of inquiry. Here we report on our investigation of the impact of gamma-ray exposure on the temperature response of fiber Bragg gratings. At 25 degrees C, exposures leading to an accumulated dose of up to 600 kGy result in complex dose-dependent drift in Bragg wavelength, significantly increasing the uncertainty in temperature measurements obtained if appreciable dose is delivered over the measurement interval. We note that temperature sensitivity is not severely impacted by the integrated dose, suggesting such devices could be used to measure relative changes in temperature.