Novel Optical Fiber Design for Hydrogen-Rich Harsh Environment

We report on a new class of novel optical fiber structures, designed for use in harsh environments typical of oil and gas applications. Specifically, we focus on fiber designs that alleviate the effects of hydrogen ingression and its associated darkening of optical fibers in harsh environments. We demonstrate, theoretically, how a carbon-coated optical fiber structure, consisting of an array of randomly or systematically placed voids running along the length of the fiber, can lead to significantly reduced hydrogen ingression effects. The array of voids can be of arbitrarily varying shapes and sizes along the length of the fiber.