Effects of Random Perturbations in Plastic Optical Fibers

Abstract

REVIEW The most important feature of an optical fiber waveguide is its bandwidth, which defines its information-carrying capacity. A major limitation on the bandwidth of multimode glass and plastic optical fibers is modal dispersion, in which different optical modes propagate at different velocities and the dispersion grows linearly with length. However, in plastic optical fibers, experimental and theoretical results indicate that the modes are not independent but are highly coupled, which leads to a characteristic square-root length dependence and an unanticipated large enhancement of the bandwidth to gigahertz levels. The ever increasing demands for low-cost, high-bandwidth communications media for voice, video, and data transmission in short- and medium-distance applications are generating a new assessment of multimode optical fibers to serve as high-speed fiber links.

Comparison of Methods for Calculating Coupling Length in Step-Index Optical Fibers

“…A similar value for L c = 15-20 m has been obtained experimentally by Garito et al [6] for high NA (0.51) SI POF. Short coupling lengths of 0.5 to 4 m for laser launch beam input were reported only for SI POF's strained by many small-radius bends [15,16].…”

“…. The tacit assumption that the coupling coefficient d(θ) is constant (equal to d 0 ) has been used routinely for SI POF in the absence of reliable estimates of other terms in the expansion series of d(θ) [6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

“…Mode coupling is caused by fiber impurities and inhomogeneities introduced during the fiber manufacturing process. Examples of such imperfections are microscopic bends, diameter variations, irregularity of the core-cladding boundary, and refractive index distribution fluctuations [6].…”

Luminescence properties of reduced SrO–Al2O3–GeO2 glasses

“…These defects can greatly affect the properties of materials, and limit the use of materials in many ways. A special issue of Science was published and focused on the control and use of defects in materials in 1998 [2][3][4][5]. In recent years, more and more researchers are focusing on the control and use of defects to achieve new functions.…”

Investigation of influence of tilt angle on mode dispersion in step-index plastic optical fibers

“…Much research has focused on the computational simu− lation of fiber performance [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. A number of methods of evaluating dispersion in optical fibers have been reported.…”