Abstract:
A study was made of the influence of the quality of the jacket quartz tubes and of the concentration of GeO2 in the waveguide core on the mechanical strength of fiber waveguides fabricated by the chemical vapor deposition method. It was found that the main factor influencing the strength of these waveguides was the presence of inclusions in the jacket quartz tube. The use of tubes with the smallest number of inclusions made it possible to prepare fiber waveguides of strength which did not differ from the ultimate strength of fiber waveguides made of very pure quartz glass KU1 and amounting to 4.5 GPa when the probability of fracture of meter-long segments was 10%.