Radiation-Induced Attenuation of Perfluorinated Polymer Optical Fibers for Radiation Monitoring

Due to some of their unique properties, optical fiber dosimeters are attractive and extensively researched devices in several radiation-related areas. This work evaluates the performance and potential of commercial perfluorinated polymer optical fibers (PF-POFs) for radiation monitoring applications. Gamma radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) of two commercial PF-POFs is evaluated in the VIS spectral region. Influence of a dose rate and temperature on RIA measurement is investigated, along with defect stability and measurement repeatability. Co-extruded PF-POFs are identified as more suitable for radiation monitoring applications due to lower dose-rate dependence. With co-extruded PF-POF, RIA measurement holds potential for highly-sensitive radiation monitoring with good reproducibility. The results show that operation in the blue part of the spectrum provides most favorable performance in terms of the largest nominal radiation sensitivity, lower temperature, and dose-rate dependence as well as higher defect stability. We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, that PF-POFs can be used for distributed detection of radiation with doses down to tens of Grays. The off-the-shelf, user-friendly PF-POF could be of interest as a cheap, disposable sensor for various applications, especially of a more qualitative nature.