The strength degradation behavior of fused silica optical fiber is well known to be sensitive to the temperature and an apparent activation energy can be determined. In addition, it has been observed that the activation energy also depends on the applied stress and the nature of the environment. However, no consistent model for this behavior has emerged. We propose a chemical kinetics model which accounts for the temperature dependence of the dissociation of water which predicts that degradation should be faster in pH 7 buffer than in pure water. Static fatigue of fused silica fibers in both water and pH 7 buffer solution has been carefully studied as a function of temperature to test the model. The apparent activation energies are stress dependent, and, while the dependency is not clear, different environments give different dependencies. These observations support the proposed model.
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