Radiation-Induced Transient Attenuation Of Optical Fibers At 800 And 1300 Nm

Abstract

Radiation-induced absorption in optical fibers has been a subject of considerable interest throughout the world 1,2. As availablility and applications of fibers have evolved from "first window" systems operating near 850 nm to "second window" systems near 1300 nm, interest in wavelength dependence of radiation effects in optical fibers has similarly evolved. Several recent studies have explored second-window radiation effects with both steady state measurements 3,4 and, to a limited extent, with transient measurements 5. No previous studies have explored the transient regime for times shorter than 10 μs. The present work summarizes second-window, radiation-induced transient absorption measurements in optical fibers for times shorter than 5 μs. Comparisons to first window data for these fibers are also presented. Only high purity silica fibers with low-OH concentrations were used in the present study to avoid the large OH absorption band in this region. This paper also collects first window data on several high-OH optical fibers. Preliminary data published previously are confirmed for one specific fiber type.