Low Loss and Temperature Stable Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers

Author

Argyros, Alexander ; Lwin, Richard ; Leon-Saval, Sergio G. ; Poulin, Jerome ; Poladian, Leon ; Large, Maryanne C J

Author_Institution

Sch. of Phys., Univ. of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Volume

30

Issue

1

fYear

2012

Firstpage

192

Lastpage

197

Abstract

We report on a study of the loss mechanisms in microstructured polymer optical fibers (mPOF), resulting in the fabrication of mPOF with a loss equal to that of commercial polymer optical fibers of 0.16 dB/m at 650 nm, nearing the limit imposed by material absorption. The contributions of confinement loss, macroscopic defects, microbending, and surface roughness are investigated and quantified. The temperature stability of mPOF is also investigated and is dependent on stresses introduced into the fiber during fabrication. A method for achieving stable operation up to 90 ^°C with a minimal increase in fiber loss is outlined.

Keywords

bending; holey fibres; light absorption; optical fibre fabrication; optical fibre losses; optical polymers; confinement loss; low loss microstructured polymer optical fiber; macroscopic defects; material absorption; microbending; surface roughness; temperature stability; temperature stable microstructured polymer optical fiber; wavelength 650 nm; Loss measurement; Optical fibers; Polymers; Scattering; Surface roughness; Temperature measurement; Microstructured optical fibers; microstructured polymer optical fibers (mPOF); polymer optical fibers (POF); temperature stability;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2011.2178231

Filename

6095571