BN/SiBCN light-leakage-proof coatings of silica optical fiber for long term sensors at high temperatures

SiBCN and BN/SiBCN light-leakage-proof coatings were prepared on silica optical fibers for sensing applications at high temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the surface morphology and microstructure of the coated fiber. Mechanical and optical properties of the coated fiber were characterized by Raman, optical and tensile tests. Compared with the original fiber, the tensile strength of SiBCN and BN/SiBCN coated fiber show an increase of about 60% and 90% at room temperature, respectively. In addition, the tensile strength of BN/SiBCN coated silica optical fiber was increased by about 42% at 700 °C. It has been found that the improvement of the strength of BN/SiBCN coated silica optical fiber is related to the healing of defects and residual compressive stress in fibers. From the light transmittance performance of the coated fiber, it was found that BN/SiBCN double coating could be an ideal total reflection solution to protect silica optical fiber from light leakage during high temperature sensing operation.