Microbending loss evaluation in arbitrary-index single-mode optical fibers. Part II: Effects of core index profiles

Microbending losses in single-mode fibers with several types of core refractive index profiles are compared. Numerical calculations were carried out to characterize fibers with step, power-law, and ring-shaped index profiles. Step-index and fibers exhibit a small excess loss near the single-mode operation upper limit. However, permissible offset misalignment in fiber splice at constant microbending loss is nearly identical for step, power-law, and fibers. An index dip at the core center has an undesirable influence on the required splicing accuracy. The effects of fiber curvature statistics and index profile parameters are investigated in detail.