Antimony oxide-doped silica fibers fabricated by the VAD method

This paper presents a study of antimony oxide as an alternative dopant material for silica optical fibers using the VAD method. It takes a detailed look at fabrication processes and their conditions for graded-index multimode fibers having a 1.0-percent relative refractive index difference. Results reveal a minimum loss value and a residual OH ion content of 7.0 dB/km at 1.65μm and 50 ppb. Furthermore, measurements are made for fundamental properties, such as loss reliability, refractive index dispersion, and transmission loss below the 1.0-μm wavelength due to Sb ⁴⁺ centers. Finally, the paper discusses the advantages and suitable applications for antimony oxide-doped silica fibers.