Influence of Optic Cable Construction Parts on Recovery Process after Gamma Irradiation

Fibre optic cables are widely used as communication cables in Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems. In the case of nuclear power plants (NPPs), using optic cables in mild environments outside of containment areas are very common. However, at present, there is a need for fibre optic cables to be used in containment areas, i.e., with radiation. An optical fibre consists of a highly transparent core that possesses a higher refractive index than the surrounding transparent cladding, which possesses a lower refractive index. Most optical fibres are manufactured from glass (silica with required dopants) which is created at high temperatures from the reaction between gasses. The glass used in optical fibres is sensitive; it becomes dark during exposure to radiation, which compromises the optic functions. That is why there has been a slow infiltration of optic cable in NPP containment areas. Radiation resistant optic fibres have been developed. Although these fibres are called “radiation resistant,” they go through a darkening process (absorbance increase) as well, but not as quickly. Immediately after the irradiation has stopped, a recovery process starts in the glass structure. During this period, optical losses of the glass improve, but not to the original level as before the irradiation. During the testing of optic cables for the installation in nuclear power plant containment areas, we observed an unusual recovery process. In the beginning, a healing effect was observed. However, after a few days of recovery, the healing process stopped, and the trend changed again as a worsening of the optical properties was observed. This paper describes experiments which explain the reasons for such an unexpected behaviour.

YAG : R3+ (R = Ce, Dy, Yb) nanophosphor-based luminescent fibre-optic sensors for temperature measurements in the range 20–500 °C

We report the development of a group of luminescent fibre-optic temperature sensors that use Ce3+-, Dy3+-, and Yb3+-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) nanophosphors as thermosensitive materials. The nanophosphors have been prepared in the form of powders with a crystallite size from 19 to 27 nm by a polymer ? salt method and exhibit bright luminescence at 550 (YAG : Ce3+), 400, 480 (YAG : Dy3+), and 1030 nm (YAG : Yb3+). The sensor design includes a silica capillary, partially filled with a nanophosphor, and two large-aperture multimode optical fibres located in the capillary, which deliver excitation light and receive and transmit the photoluminescence signal. The photoluminescence signal amplitude of all the sensors decreases exponentially with increasing temperature, pointing to characteristic thermal quenching of photoluminescence and adequate operation of the devices up to 500 °C. The highest temperature sensitivity among the fibre-optic sensors is offered by the YAG : Ce3+ nanophosphor-based devices.

Number and Distribution of Fiducial Fibres in a Spectroscopic Survey Telescope

To date, the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) has been in operation for 12 years. To improve the telescope’s astronomical observation accuracy, the original open-loop fibre positioning system of LAMOST is in urgent need of upgrading. The upgrade plan is to locate several fibre view cameras (FVCs) around primary mirror B to build a closed-loop feedback control system. The FVCs are ~20 m from the focal surface. To reduce a series of errors when the cameras detect the positions of the optical fibres, we designed fiducial fibres on the focal surface to be fiducial points for the cameras. Increasing the number of fiducial fibres can improve the detection accuracy of the FVC system, but it will also certainly reduce the number of fibre positioners that can be used for observation. Therefore, the focus of this paper is how to achieve the quantity and distribution that meet the requirements of system detection. In this paper, we introduce the necessity of using fiducial fibres, propose a method for selecting their number, and present several methods for assessing the uniformity of their distribution. Finally, we use particle swarm optimization to find the best distribution of fiducial fibres.

Optical Fibre-Enabled Photoswitching for Localised Activation of an Anti-Cancer Therapeutic Drug

Local activation of an anti-cancer drug when and where needed can improve selectivity and reduce undesirable side effects. Photoswitchable drugs can be selectively switched between active and inactive states by illumination with light; however, the clinical development of these drugs has been restricted by the difficulty in delivering light deep into tissue where needed. Optical fibres have great potential for light delivery in vivo, but their use in facilitating photoswitching in anti-cancer compounds has not yet been explored. In this paper, a photoswitchable chemotherapeutic is switched using an optical fibre, and the cytotoxicity of each state is measured against HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells. The performance of optical-fibre-enabled photoswitching is characterised through its dose response. The UV–Vis spectra confirm light delivered by an optical fibre effectively enables photoswitching. The activated drug is shown to be twice as effective as the inactive drug in causing cancer cell death, characterised using an MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy. This is the first study in which a photoswitchable anti-cancer compound is switched using an optical fibre and demonstrates the feasibility of using optical fibres to activate photoswitchable drugs for potential future clinical applications.

Recent Advances in Biomedical Photonic Sensors: A Focus on Optical-Fibre-Based Sensing

In this invited review, we provide an overview of the recent advances in biomedical photonic sensors within the last five years. This review is focused on works using optical-fibre technology, employing diverse optical fibres, sensing techniques, and configurations applied in several medical fields. We identified technical innovations and advancements with increased implementations of optical-fibre sensors, multiparameter sensors, and control systems in real applications. Examples of outstanding optical-fibre sensor performances for physical and biochemical parameters are covered, including diverse sensing strategies and fibre-optical probes for integration into medical instruments such as catheters, needles, or endoscopes.

Effect of Radiation on Germanium Doped SiO2 Fibres

We report comparative effect of radiation on Germanium incapacitated Optical fibres and commercially available TLD-100. The experiments were carried out using Siemens linear accelerator (LINAC) Primus Multileaf Collimator (MLC) 3339 to deliver photon and electron beams. The Harshaw model 3500 TLD reader with WinREMS software were used in this experiment. Both media were irradiated with 6 x106 eV electrons and 6 x106 volts photons beam. We found a good linearity for TL dose in the range from 20 to 240 mGy. Comparative studies of these compounds indicate that the TL responses using photon and electron irradiation are similar and the average intensity is enhanced by about 1.30 times in electrons than those for photon irradiation. The information of the mini review report of this paper presents in valuable for clinical linear accelerators applications.

Fiberized Diamond-Based Vector Magnetometers

We present two fiberized vector magnetic-field sensors, based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The sensors feature sub-nT/Hz magnetic sensitivity. We use commercially available components to construct sensors with a small sensor size, high photon collection, and minimal sensor-sample distance. Both sensors are located at the end of optical fibres with the sensor-head freely accessible and robust under movement. These features make them ideal for mapping magnetic fields with high sensitivity and spatial resolution (≤ mm). As a demonstration we use one of the sensors to map the vector magnetic field inside the bore of a ≥100 mT Halbach array. The vector field sensing protocol translates microwave spectroscopy data addressing all diamonds axes and including double quantum transitions to a 3D magnetic field vector.