Specialty Fibers For Optical Communication Systems

Publisher Summary Low-loss optical transmission fibers have been critical to the enormous success of optical communications technology. Fiber-based components have played a critical role in this success. Many of the components found commercial applications in optical sensor technology such as in fiber gyroscopes and other optical sensor devices. A significant number of these components were fabricated from polarization maintaining fibers (PMFs). This chapter discusses the design, performance and applications of various specialty fibers with special attention to dispersion compensation fibers, polarization maintaining and single-polarization fibers, highly nonlinear fibers, double clad fiber for high-power lasers and amplifiers, and photonic crystal fibers. Specialty fibers are designed by changing fiberglass composition, refractive index profile, or coating to achieve certain unique properties and functionalities. The nature of microstructured optical fibers leads to an endless variety of fibers with varying geometries, materials, properties, and applications.