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What is Radiation Sensing?
Radiation sensing is the measurement of ionizing or non-ionizing radiation using a sensor designed to detect radiation levels, dose, or dose rate. In photonics, optical fibers can be engineered to respond to radiation, enabling both point and distributed measurements in environments such as nuclear facilities, high-energy physics laboratories, medical facilities, and space.
Fiber-based radiation sensing can exploit effects such as Radiation-Induced Attenuation (RIA) or Radiation-Induced Emission (RIE). These effects change the optical behavior of the fiber when exposed to radiation and can therefore be correlated with the radiation received.
HOW Radiation Sensing Works
The principle can be understood through three main steps:
Radiation interaction
Radiation interacts with a specially designed optical fiber, producing a measurable change in its optical properties.
Optical signal measurement
The change can take the form of increased attenuation or emitted light. An optical interrogator measures this response along the fiber or at a specific location.
Radiation quantification
The measured optical response is correlated with radiation exposure, allowing the system to determine radiation level or accumulated dose. With distributed sensing, a single fiber can provide radiation measurements at multiple locations.
