Theoretical study of the space radiation effects in an EDFA for an small satellite mission

Abstract

NIMPH (Nanosatellite to Investigate Microwave Photonic Hardware) is a 3U Cube-Sat 1 project devoted to accomplish a qualification process of Microwave-Photonics (MWP) technology operating in space. With an advanced concept of MWP payload including an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), the nanosatellite will be launched in 2019 to measure at Low Earth Orbit(LEO) the effects of space radiation over the fiber, monitoring their critical performance parameters: gain, output power and noise figure (NF). Standing on a well verified model for the gain of an EDFA in radiative constraints, here we present a pre-study of the radiation effects in the amplifier within the context of NIMPH mission, when the fiber is operated in space at temperatures between 20 and 73 • C within a set of predefined orbits of 355-1447 km altitude, and pumped in copropagating configuration at 980 nm. Also, a simple model is proposed to estimate the NF growth of an EDFA in an ionizing environment, determining the possible variation of noise at typical space dose rates.