空间光通信用耐辐照掺铒/铒镱共掺光纤研究进展

Progress in Radiation-Resistant Erbium-Doped and Erbium-Ytterbium Co-doped Fibers for Space Optical Communication

掺铒和铒镱共掺光纤放大器具有抗电磁干扰、紧凑轻质、电光转换效率高、免调试维护等优势,在空间光通信系统中发挥着重要作用.然而,当光纤放大器长时间暴露在地球空间轨道恶劣的辐照环境中时,会受到宇宙中带电粒子和高能电磁辐射的综合作用,尤其是增益光纤在辐照环境会引起辐照损伤导致激光放大性能失效,严重制约它在空间光通信领域的应用.该文简要介绍了太空辐照环境中辐照导致光纤性能下降的现象与问题,然后从辐照效应的产生机理、影响光纤耐辐照性能的因素、辐照加固方法三方面详细阐述了耐辐照掺铒和铒镱共掺光纤的研究进展,最后对其未来的研究趋势进行了展望.

Erbium-doped and erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber amplifiers play an important role in space optical communication systems because of their advantages of anti-electromagnetic interference, high efficiency of electro-optic conversion, size compactness and lightness, and free debugging and maintenance. However, when exposed to the harsh radiation environment of the earth’s space orbit for long time, fiber amplifiers will be affected by charged particles and high-energy electromagnetic radiation in the space. In particular, the radiation will damage gain fiber and cause the failure of optical amplification, accordingly, seriously restricting the application of fiber amplifiers in the field of space optical communication. This study first briefly introduces the phenomena and problems of space radiation-induced deterioration of fiber amplifiers, then elaborates the research progress of radiation-resistant erbium-doped and erbium ytterbium co-doped fiber on three aspects: radiation mechanism, radiation-resistant factors in fibers, and methods of radiation reinforcement, and finally prospects the future research trend of radiation-resistant fiber amplifiers.