Sumitomo Electric plans production of Z-PLUS Fiber 150 with 0.14 dB/km loss
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. says it is ready for mass production of its new Z-PLUS Fiber 150, which features a transmission loss of 0.14 dB/km at 1550 nm. The fiber should be ready for commercial supply in January 2021.
The new fiber is the latest in the company’s Z Fiber line, which Sumitomo launched in 1988 with the pure-silica-core optical fiber Z Fiber with 0.17-dB/km transmission loss. Sumitomo developers demonstrated a fiber with 0.1419-dB/km loss at 1560 nm in 2017 (see "Sumitomo Electric reports optical fiber loss record"), and that R&D achievement has led to the introduction of Z-PLUS Fiber 150.
Sumitomo expects the fiber to find use in a variety of applications, including:
- Transoceanic submarine optical cable systems
- Terrestrial trunk lines, such as transcontinental networks
- Transmission lines for quantum cryptography communication
- Sensor applications
- Various other optical communication applications that require ultra-low-loss characteristics.
The fiber should prove particularly useful in the first of these applications, Sumitomo believes. The company notes that transoceanic submarine networks use a large number of optical repeaters to amplify the attenuated optical signals. The use of Z-PLUS Fiber 150 can reduce signal attenuation, which would decrease the number of optical repeaters necessary and thus reduce overall system cost.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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