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The retardance of silica glass fibers was evaluated using photoelastic techniques. Here, surface birefringence in glass fibers is shown to be a consequence of surface stress relaxation for as‐received fibers drawn from Suprasil II. The surface features of the birefringent fibers were compared to a model of the residual axial stress profile resulting from a diffusion‐controlled surface stress relaxation. Additionally, a uniform birefringence in the fiber equivalent to a constant tensile stress was recognized and attributed to structural anisotropy produced during fiber drawing. The contribution of structural anisotropy to the observed birefringence remained constant as the surface features were successively etched away. Surface compressive stress generation was also observed, as retardance corresponding to a surface compressive stress was found to increase with applied tensile stress during short heat treatments. Significant features of the retardance profile in as‐received silica glass fibers, with a thin surface compressive stress layer and compensating interior tensile stress, agreed with the residual stress profiles predicted by the surface stress relaxation model after correcting for this observed structural anisotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A constant angle of twist was applied to silica glass rods in order to produce a torsional shear strain and a reduction in torque representative of the stress state in the glass was measured as a function of time when rods were heat‐treated in air at temperatures, 550‐700°C, far below the glass transition temperature. The monotonic decrease of torque with time was explained by surface stress relaxation, which can be described by a relaxation of stress at the surface of glass which is promoted by water. The obtained surface stress relaxation diffusion coefficients were consistent with those obtained earlier from silica glass fiber bending under a similar water vapor pressure. The observed relaxation in torsion supports the mechanism of surface stress relaxation over the swelling‐based mechanism for applications including glass fiber strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the appendix of the above manuscript,1 an equation used to model residual stress in optical fibers following heat treatment under stress is developed. [Extracted from the article]