For orbital missions, the advantages of photonic-integrated-circuits (PICs) span all aspects of size, weight, and power (SWaP). Few studies document the performance of PICs when exposed to a manmade radiation environment. To determine if PICs are suitable for fielding in strategic environments, my colleagues and I partner with the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane with a funded project to test PICs in radioactive environments. We work with Texas A&M to expose silicon photonic PICs to heavy ion radiation (Xenon and Holmium) and eventually neutron radiation. There can be a lot interesting research to see how the aforementioned optical memories hold up to these types of radiation in a space environment. We will present our results at the 2024 Hardened Electronics and Radiation Technology Conference.
Integrated photonics offer significant benefits in size, weight, and power (SWaP) for space or orbital missions. I believe many of the above technical themes can find use in communication, autonomous navigation, and timing capabilities for space applications. As such, the work with Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane provides a unique opportunity to study heavy-ion, gamma, and neutron radiation on all of the proposed research themes listed above. I plan to continue collaborations and explore further research into the impact of radiation effects on our non-volatile memristive/charge-trap photonic devices and systems.