Radiation-hard/high-speed data transmission using optical links

The silicon trackers of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva) use optical links for data transmission. An upgrade of the trackers is planned for the Super LHC (SLHC), an upgraded LHC with ten times higher luminosity. We investigate the radiation-hardness of various components for possible application in the data transmission upgrade. We study the radiation-hardness of VCSELs (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) and GaAs and silicon PINs from various sources using 24 GeV/c protons at CERN. The optical power of VCSEL arrays decreases significantly after the irradiation but can be partially annealed with high drive currents. The responsivities of the PIN diodes also decrease significantly after irradiation, especially for the GaAs devices. We have designed the ASICs for the opto-link applications and find that the degradation with radiation is acceptable.