Indentation Behavior of Silica Optical Fibers Aged in Hot Water

Authors: Gougeon, Nicolas¹; Sangleboeuf, Jean¹; Abdi, Rochdi¹; Poulain, Marcel¹; Tistere-Borda, Claudia²

Source: Fiber And Integrated Optics, Volume 24, Number 5, September-October 2005 , pp. 491-500(10)

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Abstract:

Vickers indentations were performed on silica optical fibers subjected to water interaction by a hydrothermal treatment. The observation of the Vickers impression provided direct evidence of a piling-up of material of the fiber submitted to the hydrothermal treatment. This indentation behavior is consistent with a structural relaxation promoted by the water and the glass network interaction. It is suggested that the water could act as a modifier since the deformation combines the densification and the shear flow of the material. When the relaxed surface layer is chemically etched, the anomalous behavior of silica under indentation is restored as the deformation is controlled only by densification. The chemical etched samples exhibited an increase in hardness.

Keywords: optical fibers; structural relaxation; Vickers indentations; densification

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01468030590966580

Affiliations: 1: LARMAUR, Université de Rennes1, Rennes, France 2: Universita Politehnica, Bucarest, Romania

Publication date: 2005-09-01

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