Title :
Performance of Polymer Optical Fibers under Extreme Conditions
Author :
Vihinen, Pasi ; Kassamakov, Ivan ; Schorpp, Marcus ; Saarikko, Heimo
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. Sci., Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki
Abstract :
The performance of two modern polymer optical fibers was studied under demanding conditions including repeated bending with 2 mm radius in temperature range of -35 degC to 85 degC and pulling until failure. Also studied was if the changes in refractive index profile due to high stresses caused by tight radius bending would be large enough to affect the fiber performance. The tests showed that the 250 mum thick PMMA based sample fibers were able to survive the demanded 100,000 bends with temperature cycling without significantly increasing their attenuation. The fibers were also able to keep their performance until elongations close to their breaking point. The effect of changes in fiber refractive index profile was found to be insignificant compared to other bending related effects.
Keywords :
bending; elongation; optical fibre testing; optical polymers; polymer fibres; refractive index; breaking point; elongations; polymer optical fibers; radius 2 mm; refractive index; repeated bending; size 250 mum; temperature -35 degC to 85 degC; Optical attenuators; Optical fiber devices; Optical fiber testing; Optical fibers; Optical polymers; Optical receivers; Optical transmitters; Photonic integrated circuits; Temperature; Ultraviolet sources;
Conference_Titel :
Northern Optics, 2006
Conference_Location :
Bergen
Print_ISBN :
14244-0435-5
DOI :
10.1109/NO.2006.348371
