Efficient approach to designing low OH diffusion in the thermally shaped double-clad fibers
Citation
Jasim, A. A., Peterka, P., Podrazký, O., Kamrádek, M., Todorov, F., & Honzátko, P. (2021). Efficient approach to designing low OH diffusion in the thermally shaped double-clad fibers. Optical Fiber Technology, 63, 102513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2021.102513
Keywords
- Double-clad fiber (DCF)
- CO2 laser
- Optical fiber preform
- Cladding shaping
- High-power fiber lasers
- Multimode fibers
- Hydroxyl groups (OH)
- OH diffusion
- Hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching
- Water peak (referring to OH absorption at 1383 nm)
- Optical attenuation
- Surface scattering
- MCVD (Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition)
- Cut-back method (for attenuation measurement)
- Heraeus F300 silica rods
- Low refractive index polymer coating
- Ablation (by CO2 laser)
- Thermo-physical effects
Brief
This article presents an efficient approach to reduce hydroxyl (OH) diffusion in thermally shaped double-clad fiber preforms by etching them with hydrofluoric (HF) acid before CO2 laser shaping, leading to lower OH-related attenuation in the drawn fibers.
Summary
To reduce hydroxyl (OH) contamination in double-clad fibers (DCFs) that are shaped using a CO2 laser, researchers pre-treated the fiber preforms with hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching to remove surface layers containing OH. This method effectively decreased OH-related attenuation in the final fibers by 43% compared to untreated preforms, while maintaining low surface scattering and preserving the advantages of CO2 laser shaping for complex geometries.
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