Hydrogen-induced loss increases in germanium-doped single-mode optical fibres: long-term predictions

A spectrally broad loss increase occurs in GeO2-doped optical fibres exposed to hydrogen at elevated temperatures. This is the primary H2-induced loss mechanism in GeO2-doped single-mode fibres for temperatures above 20 C. Loss increases at 1.3 and 1.55 ¿m are predicted to be less than 0.01 dB km after 20 years.