COTS Optocoupler Radiation Qualification Process for LHC Applications Based on Mixed-Field Irradiations

Optoelectronic components are the most sensitive devices of systems exposed to radiation environments. Displacement damage (DD) effects can severely degrade the performances of such devices, which are extensively used in critical electronic systems installed in particle accelerators or nuclear power plants. This work investigates the use of application-specific radiation spectra for damage estimations in operation instead of mono-energetic proton or neutron irradiations. An analysis of the characteristics of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) radiation environment in terms of DD is presented in this work along with the demonstration of the ability of the CERN High Energy Accelerator Mixed Field (CHARM) facility of CERN to reproduce them. Then, a set of optocouplers made of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), and aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) are tested under these environments, and the results are compared to proton and neutron irradiations.