Super RadHard fibre substantially improves performance by using Fluorine as the dopant instead of Germanium, greatly improving radiation induced attenuation.
September 20, 2011 – Draka, part of the Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, today introduces two new radiation hardened fibres with substantially improved performance, Super RadHard single-mode fibre (SRH-SMF) and Super RadHard multimode fibre (SRH-MMF). RadHard fibres are available as part of the Draka specialty fibres portfolio, within the DrakaElite family.
Draka SRH-SMF and SRH-MMF radiation hardened fibres are built using Fluorine as a dopant in the core region, replacing the Germanium used in previous versions of RadHard fibre. Fluorine greatly improves the radiation induced attenuation (RIA). For the SRH-MMF the refractive index profile still has graded-index design, combining high bandwidth (even during and after irradiative circumstances) with low radiation induced attenuation (RIA).
For over a decade Draka has been active in the area of radiation hardened specialty optical fibres. A series of RadHard single-mode fibres (RH-SMF) and graded-index multimode fibres (RH-MMF) have been approved by the USA Department of Defense (DoD) complying with MIL-PRF-49291 specifications. The Draka Eindhoven fibre plant is MIL-790 quality assurance certified.
As well as military applications, Draka regular RadHard fibre has been used in other irradiative environments. One showcase is CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva. Within CERN, Draka has installed over 1500 km of RH-SMF inside the LHC tunnel which has a length of 27 kilometres and is about 100 meters underground near the borders of France and Switzerland. In addition Draka RH-MMF has been used in the large LHC ATLAS detector.
Both new Super RadHard fibres are aimed at special applications in high energy physics (such as CERN and ITER) as well as within the nuclear industry (uranium enrichment to recycling, Nuclear Power Plants, for example). In particular, in Nuclear Power Plant environments, successful tests have been competed at high dosage levels of 2MGy, showing excellent performance.
With these two new speciality products Draka further demonstrates its leadership in high-end applications in critical environments requiring the use of radiation hardened optical fibres.
With these two new speciality products Draka further demonstrates its leadership in high-end applications in critical environments requiring the use of radiation hardened optical fibres.
Prysmian Group
Prysmian Group is world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry. With sales of some €7 billion (pro-forma 2010 Prysmian/Draka) and 22,000 employees across 50 countries and 98 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and provides the widest range of products, services, technologies and know-how. In the Energy sector, Prysmian Group operates in the business of underground and submarine power transmission cables and systems, special cables for applications in many different industrial sectors and medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure industry. In the Telecom sector, the Group manufactures cables and accessories for the voice, video and data transmission industry, producing optical fibres, optical cables and connectivity. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the Blue Chip index.
Information: www.draka.com/communications and www.prysmiangroup.com
Media Relations Telecom Business | Telecom Solutions
Lorenzo Caruso Thea Dullemans
Communication Director Marketing Communications
Ph. 0039 02 6449.1 Ph. 00 31 20 568 9855
lorenzo.caruso@prysmian.com thea.dullemans@draka.com
Photo : Draka SRH-SMF and SRH-MMF radiation hardened fibres are built using Fluorine as a dopant in the core region, replacing the Germanium used in previous versions. Fluorine greatly improves the radiation induced attenuation (RIA). Draka regular RadHard fibre has been used in other radiation environments, such as CERN’s ATLAS detector in Geneva (photo, courtesy CERN).