ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL-RESPONSE OF A MACH-ZEHNDER ELECTROOPTICAL MODULATOR TO PULSED IRRADIATION

Radiation hardness of LiNbO3:Ti Mach-Zehnder optomodulators under high energy electron pulses at high dose rate is studied for the first tim e. Both electrical and optical measurements are performed at various d ose rates and electrical bias conditions. Electrical and optical pertu rbations are observed to be synchronous of the irradiation pulse, belo w a total dose threshold of 1 krad(Si). The optical behavior of the va rious optomodulators under test is related to their structure. As a ma tter of fact, optical perturbations are due either to photocurrent whi ch superposes to electrical bias, or to an alteration of couplers char acteristics.