The Moisture Protection of Strong Optical Fibers

摘要

This program addresses the military and commercial needs for strong optical fibers having a high degree of durability. The approach to solving this problem is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing hermetically coated fibers, coating with a suitable hermetic barrier, proof testing, optical and mechanical characterization, and analysis of results. The hermetic coating system has been designed to coat fibers which have previously been drawn. Materials evaluated as hermetic coatings included ion deposited carbon, tin, and indium. Initial results indicate that the ion deposited forms of carbon and indium alone or in combination appear to provide the best compromise of coating properties, while not degrading fiber strength. The long range objective of this program is to produce fibers with 1-7 db per kilometer attenuation at 850 nanometers, proof tested in excess of 100,000 psi, in lengths of 10-30 kilometers. It is anticipated that after hermetic coating, these optical waveguides will exhibit a 95% probability of survival in moist environments when subjected to a 2% continuous strain over periods up to 10 years.