Measurement of the optical fiber numeric aperture exposed to thermal and radiation aging

This paper deals with the aging of optical fibers influenced by temperature and radiation. There are analyzed changes in the structure of the optical fiber, related to the propagation of light in the fiber structure. In this case for numerical aperture. For experimental measurement was used MM fiber OM1 with core diameter 62.5 μm, cladding diameter 125 μm in 2.8 mm secondary coating. Aging of the optical fiber was achieved with dry heat and radiation. For this purpose, we were using a temperature chamber with a stable temperature of 105 °C where the cables after two months. Cables were then irradiated with gamma radiation 60Co in doses of 1.5 kGy and then 60 kGy. These conditions simulated 50 years aging process of optical cables. According to European Standard EN 60793-1-43:2015 was created the automatic device for angular scan working with LabVIEW software interface. Numerical aperture was tested at a wavelength of 850 nm, with an output power 1 mW. Scanning angle was set to 50° with step 0.25°. Numerical aperture was calculated from the position where power has fallen from maximal power at e2 power. The measurement of each sample was performed 10 hours after thermal and radiation aging. The samples were subsequently tested after six months from the last irradiation. In conclusion, the results of the experiment were analyzed and compared.