Low -OH and High -OH Optical Fiber

The optical attenuation characteristics are quite different for high -OH and low -OH optical fiber core material. The     -OH content of the core fused silica must be formulated into the raw boule material before the optical fiber is made. The choice is dependent on the user’s application. The low -OH type optical fiber has very low attenuation throughout the near-IR wavelength range from 700nm to beyond 1800nm, except for a small peak at 1385nm.

The normal absorption peaks at 726nm, 880nm, 950nm, 1136nm and longer, that exist in the high -OH material used in UV applications are not present in low -OH material. On the obverse, the low attenuation of the high -OH in the UV is certainly significantly better than the low -OH material. Typical curves for Polymicro’s type FI fiber (ultra low -OH) used for visible and NIR and FV fiber (high -OH core) used primarily for UV applications follow. Polymicro has recently introduced a new broad-spectrum FB fiber that operates between 275-2100nm.  Please refer to FBP specification sheet under Optical Fiber in the Product Reference section for more information.

Figure 2-19 Attenuation, Type FV - High -OH

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