Time domain modeling and characterization of polymer optical fibers

Polymer optical fibers (POFs) are of great interest the last decade, replacing glass fibers, in high-speed optical communication networks for short and medium distance applications. The characterization of POF as a transmission medium is of great importance when designing such optical networks. Based on a generalized impulse response model of multimode media, we developed a method for time bandpass response evaluation of a graded index polymer optical fiber (GIPOF). This model can be used to derive the response (in both time and frequency domains) of any arbitrary light source with given optical pulse characteristics.