6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Radiation-Resistant Temperature Monitoring in High-Energy Physics Environments

9 Jul 2026, 11:00
20m
Lecture Hall DL3 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall DL3

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track F - Applied Physics Applied Physics

Speaker

Timothy Brooks (University of Johannesburg)

Description

Accurate temperature monitoring in high-radiation environments is critical for the reliable operation of high-energy physics detectors. Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors fabricated in radiation-hardened optical fibres are widely considered for such applications due to their compactness and immunity to electromagnetic interference. In this study, the thermal response of a radiation-hardened fibre optic temperature sensor from iXblue is evaluated before and after exposure to proton irradiation at the CERN IRRAD facility. Temperature calibrations were performed before and after irradiation to assess potential changes in sensor sensitivity. The Bragg wavelength shift was recorded as a function of temperature over a controlled range, and the temperature sensitivity coefficients were extracted for both conditions. A direct comparison of pre- and post-irradiation responses was conducted to evaluate the stability of the thermo-optic behaviour under high radiation exposure. The results indicate that the sensor maintains consistent temperature sensitivity after irradiation, with only minor deviations within experimental uncertainty. These findings support the robustness of radiation-hardened FBG sensors for temperature monitoring in harsh radiation environments and provide confidence in their deployment in high-energy physics applications where radiation exposure is significant.

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Authors

Simon Connell (University of Johannesburg) Loan Truong (University Of Johannesburg) Doomnull Unwuchola Xola Mapekula (University of Johannesburg) Matthew Peter Connell (University of Johannesburg) Abdool Sattar Cassim (University of Johannesburg) Timothy Brooks (University of Johannesburg) Bongani Maqabuka Samuel Temaugee (University of Johannesburg) Daniel Madyira (University of Johannesburg)

Presentation materials