Ultra-dry oxygen atmosphere to protect tellurite glass fiber from surface crystallization

Abstract In this study we report on surface crystallization phenomena and propose a solution for the fabrication of long and robust tellurite glass fibers. The bulk tellurite glasses of interest were prepared by melting and quenching techniques. Tellurite glass preforms and fibers were fabricated by suction casting and rod-in-tube drawing methods, respectively. The surfaces of the tellurite bulk glass samples and of the drawn fibers prepared under different controlled atmospheres were examined by X-ray diffraction. When the tellurite glass fibers were drawn in ambient air containing water vapor, four primary kinds of small crystals were found to appear on the fiber surface, α-TeO2, γ-TeO2, Zn2Te3O8 and Na2Zn3(CO3)4·3H2O. A mechanism for this surface crystallization is proposed and a solution described, using an ultra-dry oxygen gas atmosphere to effectively prevent surface crystallization during fiber drawing.