Hydroxyl-free quartz glass for low-loss fiber optical waveguides and its comparative radiation-optical properties

A method was developed for the electrovacuum fabrication of very pure quartz glass completely free of hydroxyl ions. The optical losses of this glass in the 0.6–1.1 μ range were found to be 10 dB/km, which made the glass suitable for fiber optics applications. A study was made of the increase in the optical losses under the action of γ rays. The resistance of the new glass to the effect of small (10⁴–10⁵ rad) γ-ray doses was inferior to that of the KSG glass but, at high doses (10⁸ rad), the resistance was comparable for the two glasses. It was concluded that the resistance of the new glass to γ-ray effects was limited by the presence of modifier ions in the glass network.