Total dose and proton damage in optocouplers

Radiation damage from gamma rays and protons is investigated for two types of optocouplers with different physical configurations. Far more damage occurs from protons because of displacement damage, which reduces the photoresponse of the phototransistor and causes severe degradation in LED light output for one of the two device types. The other device type was far more resistant to radiation, primarily because it used a shorter wavelength LED that was relatively unaffected by protons.