March 24, 2003--Nufern, independent manufacturer of application-specific optical fiber, today unveiled several new fibers, including an 80-micron version of its bend-insensitive 1550-nm select cut-off product family and two new Erbium-doped fibers for use in L-band amplifiers and ASE applications
80-micron bend insensitive 1550-nm fiber
Nufern has added an 80-micron version to its bend insensitive 1550-nm select cut-off product family. Designed for use in small form-factor active and passive components that require tight bend radii, Nufern's 1550B-HP-80 is ideal for bend insensitive packaging for compact C- and L-band components, low NA planar waveguides, and metro applications.
Given the current trend toward smaller form-factor components, bend loss is critical, explains Nufern scientist Upendra Manyam. By increasing the cut-off, using a lower coating index, or changing the cladding index structure, 80-micon fibers can be made more bend insensitive for the miniaturization of components--while maintaining the same loss budget.
"As with the 125-micron clad version of 1550B-HP, our 80-micron version meets customers' requirements for tightly controlled optical and mechanical tolerances with better bend-performance 50 to 100 times lower bend loss than SMF28," adds Manyam.
Erbium-doped fibers for L-band and ASE applications
Nufern also introduced two additions to its line of erbium-doped fibers today--the EDFL-980-HP and EDFL-980-HP-80 for use in L-band amplifiers (1570-1610 nm) and compact ASE sources. EDFL-980-HP-80 is a reduced-cladding (80-micron) fiber that is ideal for small form-factor devices.
"We've applied the same proprietary doping technology and processing standards used in developing our C-band fiber to provide efficient L-band/ASE fibers with highly consistent and reproducible spectroscopy," contends Nufern scientist Dr. David Machewirth. "Nufern's extensive characterization labs and statistical process control plant provide fiber with the kind of detailed characterization data and tight optical and mechanical tolerances our customers rely on."
Nufern's EDFL-980-HP and EDFL-980-HP-80 fibers have a peak absorption (near 1530 nm) of 25 dB/meter, a typical cut-off wavelength of 920 nm and typical numerical aperture of 0.25. These fibers have a core-clad concentricity error of < 0.3 æ m to ensure low splice loss and are proof tested at 200 kpsi for high reliability. Each lot of Nufern's erbium-doped fiber is furnished with extensive lot specific characterization data.