Radiation Response of Perfluorinated Polymer Optical Fibers (CYTOP) to Low Doses of X-Rays, Protons, and Neutrons

The response of perfluorinated polymer fibers (PF-POFs) in X-ray, proton, and neutron irradiation was investigated for their potential application in clinical environments. Radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) in PF-POF increases linearly with dose and PF-POF was found to be highly sensitive to all the sources of radiation used. A sensitivity of 0.050 ± 0.003, 0.089 ± 0.005, and 0.065 ± 0.003 dB/m/Gy was recorded for 6 MV X-rays, 63 MeV protons, and 400 MeV neutrons, respectively, at a wavelength of 510 nm at room temperature. The PF-POF fibers also exhibit energy dependence—a useful feature in characterizing the depth dose in a proton beam. The high sensitivity of the fiber enables the development of distributed sensing in oncology and can be combined with other solid-state detectors in monitoring radiation dose in mixed radiation environments.