Luminescence characterization of rhodamine-B-doped plastic optical fibers using the side induced fluorescence method

Acrylic plastic optical fibers containing the laser dye Rhodamine B chloride have been drawn from unclad doped acrylic preforms. The fibers strongly emit waveguided fluorescence light produced form ambient side illumination along the length of the fiber. We have characterized the loss in the wavelength region of strong absorption by measuring the attenuation of the side induced fluorescence (SIF) produced by He-Ne (green) and He-Cd (blue) laser lines. We can accurately quantify the loss in the high loss spectral region using SIF. Attenuation data and the associated SIF analysis will be discussed.