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Radiation testing of photonic components is not new, however component level testing to date has not completely addressed quantities which are important to system behavior. One characteristic that is of particular importance for optical processing systems is the frequency response. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of data from an experiment designed to provide a preliminary understanding of the effects of radiation on the frequency response of acousto-optic devices. The goal is to present possible physical mechanisms responsible for the radiation effects and to discuss the effects on signal processing functionality. The experiment discussed in this paper was designed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and performed by SNL and Phillips Laboratory (PL) personnel at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). In the experiment, a TeO2 slow shear-wave aocusto-optic cell was exposed to radiation from the WSMR linear accelerator. The TeO2 cell was placed in an experimental configuration which allowed swept frequency diffracted power measurements to be taken during radiation exposure and recovery. A series of exposures was performed. Each exposure consisted of between 1 to 800, 1 microsecond(s) ec radiation pulses (yielding exposures of 2.25 kRad(Si) to 913 kRad(Si), followed by recovery time. At low total and cumulative doses, the bandshape of the frequency response (i.e. diffracted power vs. frequency) remained almost identical during and after radiation. At the higher exposures, however, the amplitude and width of the frequency response changed as the radiation continued, but returned to the original shape slowly after the radiation stopped and recovery proceeded. It is interesting to note that the location of the Bragg degeneracy does not change significantly with radiation. In this paper, we discuss these effects, and we discuss the effect on the signal processing functionality.
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