Experiments were conducted to evaluate the viability of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology in the design of highperformance optical intersatellite communications links. The optical links were operated at 155, 622 and 2488 Megabits per second (Mbps) and at 1550 nm wavelength. Communications components were evaluated against performance parameters for on-off keyed (00K) systems. Transmitters, receivers, optical amplifiers, and filters, used to minimize the impact of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), were characterized individually and within system configurations. Bit error rate (BER) as a function of photons per bit was characterized for several system configurations. Extinction ratio analysis experiments were conducted to determine the limiting factors on the systems performance. Widely varying optical powers in space (for low earth orbit) imply a robust receiver dynamic range requirement. Dynamic range of COTS receivers was examined and resulted in sufficient performance. In addition, gamma radiation tests on fiber amplifiers were also evaluated in a system context.

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Charge Injection Devices were tested for transient and total damage effects using high-energy electrons. The devices had acceptable image quality after 1 Mrad(Si) and operated during fluxes up to 8x109 eIcm2-s.

Charge Injection Devices (CIDs) have historically played a niche role in visible imager technologies, mainly for applications requiring high radiation tolerance. They have not exhibited the radiometric performance of competing visible-imaging technologies such as CCDs, and so have not been widely applied to space instrument systems. Recent advances in CIDs have demonstrated much higher radiometric performance as well as lower noise operation, without compromising the radiation tolerance of the devices, making the devices suitable for a wide range of space instruments. We present radiometric, noise, and radiation response data for several of the newest CID designs that are candidate technologies for visible space telescope systems.

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