Abstract
Microbend-inducing stresses aggravate signal attenuation in optical fiber, but the primary coating on dual-coated optical fibers minimizes microbending losses by providing a soft elastomeric buffer next to the glass. At extremely low temperatures, the role of primary coating as an effective buffer against external stresses becomes indistinct. This is so because at temperatures below the glass transition temperature of the primary coating, the coating is in a glassy state where the capacity to absorb and dissipate the external stresses is severely hindered. At low temperatures the situation is further intensified by induced thermal stresses caused by the differential shrinkage of glass and the coatings. Among the critical design parameters for minimizing microbending effects at low temperature are the rate of stress relaxation in primary coatings, the magnitude of thermally induced stresses when the temperature is lowered, the thickness of the primary coating, and the concentricity of the coating applied.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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