Hollow-core optical fibers and methods for producing the same

A method of producing a hollow-core optical fiber from a hollow-core preform, the method comprising:

• feeding a hollow-core preform into a draw furnace at a preform feed rate Vp (in mm/min);
• heating the hollow-core preform comprising an outer tube, wherein the outer tube comprises an inner surface defining an interior cavity and an inner diameter IDpreform (in mm) of the outer tube of the hollow-core preform and an outer surface defining an outer diameter ODpreform (in mm) of the outer tube of the hollow-core preform;
• and
• drawing a hollow-core optical fiber from the hollow-core preform at a fiber draw rate Vf (in mm/min) and a draw tension τ, thereby elongating the outer tube of the hollow-core preform to an outer cladding of the hollow-core optical fiber, wherein the outer cladding comprises an inner surface defining an inner diameter IDfiber (in μm) of the outer cladding of the hollow-core fiber and an outer surface defining an outer diameter ODfiber (in μm) of the outer cladding of the hollow-core optical fiber;
• wherein a fiber dimension sensitivity ΔIDfiber (in μm), as defined as a variation in the inner diameter IDfiber of the outer cladding of the hollow-core optical fiber when a differential core pressure Pcore undergoes a fluctuation of 0.01 psig, satisfies the following:
• Δ
• ⁢
• I
• ⁢
• D
• fiber
• =
• M
• ×
• Θ
• where:
• M is a proportionality constant and M=2277.778×IDfiber+(1.197×105),
• Θ is a grouping parameter and
• Θ
• =
• A
• ×
• x
• -
• 1
• .
• 1
• ⁢
• 8
• ×
• T
• fiber
• -
• 2
• ,
• where:
• A is a scaling factor and
• A
• =
• O
• ⁢
• D
• preform
• 2
• -
• I
• ⁢
• D
• preform
• 2
• 1
• ⁢
• 3
• ⁢
• 6
• ,
• x is the operating draw stress (in MPa) and
• x
• =
• 4
• π
• ×
• τ
• (
• O
• ⁢
• D
• fiber
• 2
• -
• I
• ⁢
• D
• fiber
• 2
• )
• ,
• and
• Tfiber (in μm) is the thickness of the outer cladding of the hollow-core optical fiber and
• T
• fiber
• =
• 1
• 2
• ⁢
• O
• ⁢
• D
• fiber
• -
• 1
• 2
• ⁢
• I
• ⁢
• D
• fiber
• .