Measurement of the angular distribution of scattered light from ZrF_4-based fluoride fiber

Abstract

Spherical coordinate angular distributions (θ, φ) of scattered light are measured for ZrF4-based fluoride fibers. Rayleigh and non-Rayleigh scattering are observed. The scattering loss spectrum for fibers is characterized by αs = Aλ−4 + Bλ−2 + C. The coefficient A is determined to be 1.25 from the scattered light intensity at 0.633 μm for low scattering fiber. The possibility of achieving a transmission loss below 0.1 dB/km at wavelengths above 2 μm is confirmed by the scattering loss characterization obtained for the fluoride optical fibers.