Fiber optic dosimeter for space environment and dosimetry process

A dosimeter comprising:

• a light source capable of generating a light beam,
• an optical coupler-splitter capable of receiving the light beam emitted by the light source and to transmit separately a first part of the light beam and a second part of the light beam,
• a radio-sensitive optical fiber, the radio-sensitive optical fiber being arranged to receive the first part of the light beam,
• a first photodetector arranged to record a power measurement of the light beam transmitted through the radio-sensitive optical fiber,
• a reference optical arm of smaller optical length than that of the radio-sensitive optical fiber, the reference optical arm being arranged to receive the second part of the light beam,
• a second photodetector arranged to record a reference power measurement of the light beam transmitted through the reference optical arm, and
• an electronic system capable of receiving simultaneously the power measurement of the first photodetector and the reference power measurement of the second photodetector, the electronic system being configured to extract a differential radiation induced attenuation measurement in the radio-sensitive optical fiber with respect to the reference optical arm, wherein,
• the radio-sensitive optical fiber has a phosphorus or aluminium-doped core, and
• the light beam is non-polarized or depolarized and the radio-sensitive optical fiber is a single-mode or multi-mode optical fiber which is not of the polarization-maintaining type, or,
• the light beam is polarized and the radio-sensitive optical fiber is a polarization-maintaining fiber.