In this paper, the influence of etching depth on the dark current and photo-response of a mid-wave infrared Ga-free T2SL XBn pixel detector is investigated. Two wet chemical etching depths have been considered for the fabrication of a non-passivated individual pixel detector having a cut-off wavelength of 5 µm at 150 K. This study shows the strong influence of the lateral diffusion length of a shallow-etched pixel on the electro-optical properties of the device. The lowest dark current density was recorded for the deep-etched detector, on the order of 1 × 10−5 A/cm2 at 150 K and a bias operation equal to −400 mV. The corresponding quantum efficiency was measured at 60% (without anti-reflection coating) for a 3 µm thick absorbing layer. A comparison of experimental results obtained on the two kinds of etched pixels demonstrates the need for a deep-etching process combined with efficient passivation for FPA manufacturing.

The DISCOMS project, which stands for “DIstributed Sensing for COrium Monitoring and Safety”, considers the potential of distributed sensing technologies, based on remote instrumentations and Optical Fiber Sensing cables embedded into the concrete floor under the reactor vessel, to monitor the status of this third barrier of confinement. This paper focuses on the selection and testing of singlemode (SM) optical fibers with limited RIA (Radiation Induced Attenuation) to be compliant with remote distributed instruments optical budgets, the ionizing radiation doses to sustain, and their reduction provided by the concrete basemat shielding. The tests aimed at exposing these fibers and the corresponding sensitive optical cables, to the irradiation doses expected during the normal operation of the reactor (up to 60 years for the European Pressurized Reactor), followed by a severe accident. Several gamma and mixed (neutron-gamma) irradiations were performed at CEA Saclay facilities: POSÉÏDON irradiator and ISIS reactor, up to a gamma cumulated dose of about 2 MGy and fast neutron fluence (E > 1 MeV) of 6 x 1015 n/cm2. The first gamma test permitted to assess the RIA at various optical wavelengths, and to select three radiation tolerant singlemode fibers (RIA < 5 dB/100 m, at 1550 nm operating wavelength). The second one was performed on voluminous strands of sensitive cables encapsulating the selected optical fibers, up to approximately the same accumulated dose, at two temperatures: 30°C and 80°C. A significant increase of the RIA, without any saturation tendency, appeared for fibers inserted into cables, correlated with the increase of the hydroxyl attenuation peak at 1380 nm. Molecular hydrogen generated by the radiolysis of compounds of the cable is at the origin of this phenomenon. A third gamma irradiation run permitted to measure the radiolytic hydrogen production yield of some compounds of a dedicated temperature cable sample. The efficiency of a carbon coating layer over the silica cladding, acting as a barrier against hydrogen diffusion, was also successfully confirmed. Finally, the efficiency of this carbon coating layer has also been tested under neutron irradiation, then qualified as a protection barrier against hydrogen diffusion in the optical fiber cores.

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