Scattering measurements on a low-loss fluorozirconate optical fibre

The scattering loss in a low-loss fluorozirconate fibre has been measured in the infra-red and visible regions using an integrating sphere. At 2.55 ?m, the scattering loss is 1 dB/km including a wavelength-independent offset of 0.6 dB/km. Two bright pinpoints in the fibre were found to contribute a few per cent of the total scattering from the entire fibre. Otherwise, there was found to be little variation in scattering level along the fibre.