Laser-induced damage to large core optical fiber by high peak power laser

In this paper we present a study of laser damage to large core multimode glass optical fibers by high peak laser power of up to 175 kW. Fibers samples prepared with polymer coatings having different refractive indices were tested in a two-point bend tester while transmitting laser light. The peak power used in the experiment clearly differentiated the performance among the samples. A polymer coating having lower refractive index significantly improves the fiber resistance to bending while transmitting laser. This observation provides important insight into the damage mechanism for this particular failure mode.