Development of high power photoactive Erbium and Erbium-Ytterbium doped fibers for ultra-fast satellite telecommunications

这个为期三年的项目的主要目标是延长用于通信卫星100 Gbps吞吐量的掺铒/镱光纤放大器（EDFA/YDFA）的工作寿命和性能。拟议的研究分为两种互补的方法：一种旨在实现基于光漂白的光学再生过程，以恢复暴露于伽马辐射的EDFA/YDFA中的光学增益，而第二种是使用热电（TE）涂层来回收其操作期间使用的一些能量，用于耗散过多的热量并将其部分转化为电能。我们的活动将与蒙特利尔地区的两家公司合作进行：MPB Technologies，设计和制造用于空间应用的紧凑型设备和仪器，以及Pi-SOL Technologies，开发用于能源转换的热电Bi 2 Te 3和Sb 2 Te 3纳米材料。两位学术合作伙伴将参与其中：Federico Rosei教授（INRS）将进行高级表征并开发高效的TE涂层以及光漂白过程的参数研究，以更好地了解激光/物质和辐射/物质相互作用，以及科尔内利亚Chilian博士（SLOWPOKE实验室，Polytechnique Montréal）负责辐照实验。我们的研究活动包括使用各种密封伽马源和一个20千瓦的中子反应堆，以100 krad/年的低剂量率再现空间条件。我们的最终目标是开发有效的解决方案和/或缓解策略，以模拟恶劣环境，这符合我们工业合作伙伴的可行性参数，可直接在卫星和航天器上实施。

The main objective of this three-year project is to extend the operation lifetime and performance of Erbium/Ytterbium-Doped Fibre Amplifiers (EDFA/YDFAs) used for 100 Gbps throughput in telecommunication satellites. The proposed research is divided into two complementary approaches: one aiming to implement an optical regeneration process based on photo-bleaching to recover optical gain in EDFA/YDFAs exposed to gamma radiations, while the second is to retrieve some of the energy used during their operation using thermo-electric (TE) coating layers for dissipating excessive heating and partially convert it into electricity. Our activities will be conducted in partnership with two companies from the Montréal area: MPB Technologies, which designs and manufactures compact equipment and instruments for space applications, and Pi-SOL Technologies, which develops thermoelectric Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 nanomaterials for energy conversion. Two academic partners will be involved: Prof. Federico Rosei (INRS) who will perform advanced characterization and develop efficient TE coating layers as well as the parametric investigation of the photo-bleaching process to better understand laser/matter and radiation/matter interactions, and Dr. Cornelia Chilian (SLOWPOKE laboratory, Polytechnique Montréal), who is in charge of irradiation experiments will be performed. Our research activities include the use of various sealed gamma sources and a 20 kW neutron reactor at low doses rate of 100 krad/year to reproduce space conditions. Our ultimate goal is to develop efficient solutions and/or mitigation strategies to simulate harsh environments, which enter within the feasibility parameters of our industrial partners for direct implementation in satellites and space crafts.