New Optical Fiber Coating Designed for High-Temperature Applications

In this work we describe a newly designed dual acrylate coating that can be used at higher temperatures than conventional acrylates, while retaining most of their advantages. As part of the discussion, we consider herein the concept of thermal stability and provide a simple way of evaluating it for different optical fiber coatings. We have used our new method to identify a dual acrylate coating system with improved heat resistance relative to several conventional coatings. Good performance was demonstrated with respect to optical attenuation and mechanical strength retention upon highly accelerated heat aging and steam aging for a 50/125/250 μm GI MM fiber. Stripability of the new coating is comparable to that of conventional acrylate coatings. At the same time, delamination resistance has been enhanced to support more robust handling in harsh environments.