Summary of the effects of radiation upon the passive optical components of the Versatile Link

The LHC luminosity upgrade, known as the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will require high-speed optical links to read out data from its detectors. The ATLAS and CMS experiments in collaboration with CERN have developed the Versatile Link in order to address the technical issues of optical data transmission within the harsh radiation environment experienced by any experiment within the HL-LHC. Passive optical components can suffer damage in the form of reduced optical transparency (radiation induced absorption or RIA), reduced bandwidth, and mechanical damage to the components themselves and their connection hardware. This paper summarizes the results of the optical and mechanical tests that have been performed on the Versatile Link's passive optical components. The authors conclude that two single mode and two multimode fibres, as well as standard connector components, can be qualified for use in the HL-LHC environment. The qualifying fibers are: Corning SMF-28e, DrakaElite® SRH-SMF, Corning Clearcurve® OM4 multimode graded index, and DrakaElite® SRH-MMF.