Optical aging observation in suspended core tellurite microstructured fibers under atmospheric conditions

Tellurite glasses are good candidates for the development of broadband supercontinuum (SC) laser sources in the 1-5 mu m range. At the moment, beside very few exceptions, SC generation in TeO2-based microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) is limited to 3 mu m in the mid-infrared (MIR). We present here an observation of an optical aging occurring in six-hole suspended-core tellurite MOFs. When exposed to atmospheric conditions, such fibers show an alteration of their transmission between 3 and 4 mu m. This aging phenomenon leads to the growth of strong additional losses in this wavelengths range over time. Impact of the transmission degradation on spectral broadening is studied through numerical simulations of SC generation.