A rigorous analysis of the power distribution in plastic clad annular core optical fibers

Couplers and splitters are common devices in single-mode and multi-mode glass fibers applications, where they perform a variety of functions. However, when switching to plastic optical fibers (POFs), there is a shortage of commercial devices, which are usually custom-made. The problem with these devices is that modal power distribution in POFs is easily modified by spatial disturbances that produce a localized strong power transfer between modes, thus changing their transmission properties. In this work, a commercial Y-coupler designed for POFs is experimentally characterized. Measurements of its spectral, spatial and temporal characteristics have been performed, including insertion loss as a function of wavelength, angular power distribution, and frequency response. The obtained results show that this device has an equalizing effect over the power spatial distribution that reduces the fiber bandwidth, demonstrating the importance of considering the impact of this type of devices on the transmission properties of any POF system.

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A rigorous analysis of localized wave propagation in optical fibers

Optics Communications ◽

10.1016/s0030-4018(01)01050-1 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 191 (1-2) ◽

pp. 49-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

M. Zamboni-Rached ◽

H.E. Hernández-Figueroa

Keyword(s):

Wave Propagation ◽

Optical Fibers ◽

Rigorous Analysis

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Low attenuation mode converter with modal power distribution controllability by twist processing in step-index optical fibers

2017 22nd Microoptics Conference (MOC) ◽

10.23919/moc.2017.8244599 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Koji Horiguchi ◽

Tadahisa Iikubo ◽

Yoshitada Beppu ◽

Yasuhiro Hyakutake ◽

Okihiro Sugihara

Keyword(s):

Optical Fibers ◽

Power Distribution ◽

Mode Converter ◽

Step Index ◽

Modal Power

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Modeling of Polymer Optical Fibers

Communication in Transportation Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2976-9.ch004 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 97-116

Author(s):

Javier Mateo ◽

Ángeles Losada ◽

Alicia López

Keyword(s):

Optical Fibers ◽

Power Distribution ◽

Power Flow ◽

Light Propagation ◽

Fiber Type ◽

Temporal Frequency ◽

Multimode Fibers ◽

Propagation Matrix ◽

Fiber Path ◽

Polymer Optical Fibers

The idea of this chapter is to give a complete overview on a matrix approach to describe light propagation in strongly multimode fibers such as 1-mm diameter plastic optical fibers. These large core fibers accept such a huge number of travelling modes that they can be viewed as a continuum. Thus, light propagation can be described as a power flow by a differential equation that can be more easily solved using matrices. Thus, the key of this method is the propagation matrix that is calculated from the diffusion and attenuation functions characteristic for a given fiber type. The propagation matrix has temporal frequency dependence and can be used to obtain not only angular power distributions but also temporal parameters such as pulse spread or bandwidth. This approach is flexible to introduce localized perturbations of power distribution provided they can be modeled as matrices. Thus, the effect of devices such as scramblers or connectors and also of disturbances such as curvatures and tensions can be introduced at different points in the fiber path to assess their impact on transmission properties. One of the most critical parameters when designing a network is its bandwidth and how it decreases when increasing the link reach. This dependence has been assumed to be linear when both bandwidth and length are represented in logarithms with a slope whose value provides information of the processes underlying propagation. Thus, the authors apply the model to calculate the bandwidth versus length dependence under different conditions analyzing the value of the slope and explaining previous experimental findings.

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