Catastrophic damage and accelerated ageing in bentfibres caused by high optical powers

Catastrophic optical fibre damage effects have been known about for some time, but this effect typically needs external initiation and therefore can be avoided in most instances. It is shown for the first time that catastrophic damage can occur in fibre carrying high optical powers when it is bent quite tightly. In less severe bend situations, this may lead to degradation of the coating, which could produce quite unexpected long-term reliability issues within an operator network.