Optical fibers for plasma diagnostics under gamma-ray and UV irradiation

The remote diagnostics of plasmas in fusion installations requires adequate connection links to transfer the measured signals in media subjected to high-electromagnetic disturbances, high-temperature and ionizing radiation conditions. We evaluated the gamma-ray and UV radiation induced optical absorption in several commercially available optical fibers, as they were assessed for their possible use in fusion installations. Optical fibers with an enhanced UV transmission were investigated, having a core diameter of 400 μm. We studied the recovery effects present after heating the optical fiber samples for both gamma-ray irradiation and UV radiation exposure.