Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T15:55:30.805Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fluoropolymer barriers to stress corrosion in optical fibers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Liliana Klinger  and
James R. Griffith
Liliana Klinger
Affiliation:
United States Army Communications Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 07703
James R. Griffith
Affiliation:
Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375
Get access

Abstract

Some recent studies on fluoropolymers that exhibit substantially increased barrier properties against the migration of moisture when compared to conventional fiber coating materials, and as a result may offer unique advantages for use in optical fiber applications, are reported. Moisture vapor permeability studies of cis-trans fluoropolyol polyacrylate indicate that it can offer up to an order of magnitude reduction in H2O permeability relative to commercially available UV curable acrylate coatings. Experimentally determined permeability coefficients were of the order of 10−12 g cm−2 s−1 cm/mm Hg and diffusion coefficients were of the order of 10−10 cm2 s−1. In addition to improved barrier properties, incorporation of fluorine into the polymer structure lowers the index of refraction of the polymer enabling a material to be tailored for use as a cladding in conjunction with silica glass. The index of refraction of cis-trans fluoropolyol polyacrylate was determined, using index matching oils, to be 1.437 (lower than the silica core) permitting its use as a cladding. Other material parameters relevant to fiber coatings have also been measured. The elastic modulus E of the material was determined to be 1010 dyn/cm2 with a slow drop to 108 dyn/cm2 at the glass transition temperature ∼45°C. In addition, an improved formulation of cis-trans fluoropolyol polyacrylate is presented that allowed in-line coating of the optical fiber in an oxygen environment.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 2 , Issue 6 , December 1987 , pp. 876 - 883
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Blyler, L. L. Jr. , Eichenbaum, B. R. and Schonhorn, H. in Optical Fiber Telecommunications, edited by Miller, S. E. and Chynoweth, A. G. (Academic, New York, 1979), Chap. 10.Google Scholar
2Blyler, L. L. Jr. , Polym. News 8 (1), 6 (1981).Google Scholar
3Salame, M. and Steingiser, S.Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 8 (2), 155 (1977).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Barrie, J. A. in Diffusion in Polymers, edited by Crank, J. and Park, G. S. (Academic, London, 1968), Chap. 8.Google Scholar
5L, D. Hunston, Griffith, J. R. and Bowers, R. C.Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev. 17 (1), 10 (1978).Google Scholar
6Krause, J. T.J. Non-Cryst. Solids 38-39, 497 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Gloge, D.Bell Syst. Tech. J. 54, 245 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Roffey, C. G.Photopolymerization of Surface Coatings (Wiley, New York, 1982), Chap. 4.Google Scholar
9Nielsen, L. E.Mechanical Properties of Polymers and Composites (Dekker, New York, 1974), Chap. 1, Vol. 1.Google Scholar
10Schantz, C. A.Mittelstadt, L. S. and Hanson, E. G. in the Proceedings of the Optical Communications Symposium, LIA 1984, 40, ICALEO 83, pp. 20–23.Google Scholar
11Chaudhuri, R. and Schultz, P. C. in the Proceedings of the SPIE Symposium on Optoelectronics Fiber Optics Applications in Science and Engineering, 1986.Google Scholar
12Skutnick, B. J.Hodge, M. H. and Nath, D. K. FOC/LAN 85, September 1985, p. 232.Google Scholar
13Kurkjian, C. R. and Paek, U. C. in the Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers, 1984, p. 714.Google Scholar
14Skutnick, B. J.U. S. Patent No. 4, 511, 209 (16 April 1985).Google Scholar
15Kurkjian, C. R. (privatecommunication).Google Scholar