Commercial high speed fiber optic transmitters and receivers were tested in a high energy proton environment at the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory to determine the transient impact of the space proton environment on a simulated communications link. The link was designed to simulate free-space communication between satellites. The transmit/receive bit error ratio was used as the evaluation metric. Individual electronic components on each transmitter and receiver module were tested using a variety of proton energies, angles of incidence, and optical link configurations. No change was found in the bit error ratio for any of the transmitters tested. Significant increases in bit error ratio were found on two of the receivers when several individual receiver components were irradiated. Small increases in bit error ratio were found on several receivers when exposed to 63 MeV proton fluxes greater than 1 X 10⁷ p/cm²-s. The remaining receivers were found to be immune to the influence of the protons. This testing demonstrates the feasibility of operating commercial transmitters and receivers in a free-space optical link when exposed to the space proton environment.

Date Published: 26 April 1999
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 3615, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI, (26 April 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.346196

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3615:
Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI
G. Stephen Mecherle, Editor(s)