Results are presented on the in-situ radiation response of three commercial hybrid optical receivers of the type used in high speed fiber optic networks. When subjected to a 2.5 MeV pulsed electron beam, a receiver that contained a GaAs MESFET was found to exhibit transient effects in response to a dose as low as ~50 Rads. Two other receivers containing no GaAs FETs suffered little or no amplitude perturbation on exposure to 200 - 400 Rads(GaAs) per pulse. The radiation response of the first receiver is shown to be consistent with the long term transient response of conventional GaAs MESFETs. Implications for circuit design and for several high speed data buses are discussed.

Date Published: 15 January 1990
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 1174, Fiber Optics Reliability: Benign and Adverse Environments III, (15 January 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.963237

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1174:
Fiber Optics Reliability: Benign and Adverse Environments III
Roger A. Greenwell; Dilip K. Paul, Editor(s)