Effects of hydrogen on the IR absorption characteristics in optical fibers

Abstract

To keep the high reliability for a long term in optical-fiber communication systems, it is important that the transmission loss in optical fibers be steady as long as possible. So far, it has been believed that the transmission loss in optical fibers does not change much with time. However, it was recently observed that permeation of hydrogen, which may be introduced in case of water propagation by the interaction between metals in optical cables and water, causes the transmission loss increase in optical fibers with time.1