Abstract

Keck et al.¹ have reported that a marked reduction in the water content of an optical waveguide will leave the scattering as the major loss mechanism. Typically the outside-vapor-phase oxidation (OVPO) process yields a fiber with 50-200 ppm of OH, which adds, for example, greater than 2 dB/km at 0.90 gm. In order to achieve low loss, i.e., < 1 dB/km, at 1.1-1.3 μm (with the appropriate glass composition), 0.l-l.0-ppm OH will be necessary.

© 1979 Optical Society of America