Radiation effects on silica-based preforms and optical fibers-I: Experimental study with canonical samples

International audience; Prototype samples of preforms and associated fibers have been designed and fabricated through MCVD process to investigate the role of fluorine (F) and germanium (Ge) doping elements on the radiation sensitivity of silica-based glasses. We characterized the behaviors of these canonical samples before, during and after 10 keV X-ray irradiation through several spectroscopic techniques, to obtain global information (in situ absorption measurements, electron paramagnetic resonance) or spatially-resolved information (confocal microscopy, absorption and luminescence on preform). These tests showed that, for the Ge-doped fiber and in the 300–900 nm range, the radiation-induc…