Optical characteristics of radiated multifunctional optical materials

Abstract

Heavy metal halides have been used in variety of optical devices and systems including lasers, acousto-optic devices, wide transparency windows and doped materials for radiation sensing. The performance of optical and electronic materials and devices are affected significantly in space environment especially due to exposure of high energy radiations. We have investigated the effect of γ-ray radiations on multifunctional binary and ternary halide crystals in a laboratory environment. In this paper, the characteristics of mercurous halides (Hg₂X₂, X= Cl, Br) before and after radiation exposure are discussed. These crystals, synthesized with high purity source materials, were exposed with a ¹³⁷Cs γ-ray source for a period of more than 70 hours. It was observed that a ¹³⁷Cs γ-ray source with 5 μ curie source did not affect the optical characteristics of these materials which suggests their potential use in space-based components.