Quantitative estimates of mode coupling and differential modal attenuation in perfluorinated graded-index plastic optical fiber

Author

Golowich, Steven E. ; White, Whitney ; Reed, William A. ; Knudsen, Erik

Author_Institution

Lucent Technol. Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ, USA

Volume

21

Issue

1

fYear

2003

fDate

1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

111

Lastpage

121

Abstract

The performance of plastic optical fiber is greatly influenced by the related but distinct effects of mode coupling and differential modal attenuation (DMA). We establish a method for estimating the matrix that governs both of these effects and allows us to distinguish the two. We obtain partial quantitative estimates of this matrix for a particular graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI-POF). The sample we studied exhibited strong but incomplete mode coupling over 100-m lengths, while DMA was largely limited to a centerline defect. We show that much of the loss of the fiber can be attributed to mode coupling between mode groups with similar effective indexes.

Keywords

gradient index optics; optical fibre communication; optical fibre couplers; optical fibres; optical polymers; plastics; 100 m; centerline defect; differential modal attenuation; effective indexes; graded-index plastic optical fiber; mode coupling; mode groups; partial quantitative estimates; perfluorinated graded-index plastic optical fiber; plastic optical fiber; Fluctuations; Glass; Optical attenuators; Optical coupling; Optical fiber communication; Optical fiber losses; Optical fiber theory; Optical fibers; Plastics; Polymers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2003.808668

Filename

1190154