Microstructured transmission optical fiber

• US 8,474,287 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2012
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Inventors: Bickham, Scott Robertson, Bookbinder, Dana Craig, Li, Ming-Jun, Tandon, Pushkar
• Primary Examiner(s): DEHGHAN, QUEENIE S
• Application Number:
  US13/440,375
• Publication Number:
  US 20120186304A1
• Time in Patent Office: 453 Days
• Field of Search: 654/35, 653/93
• US Class Current: 65/435
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 2203/14 Non-solid, i.e. hollow products, e.g. hollow clad or with core-clad interface
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 2203/23 Double or multiple optical cladding profiles
• CPC Class Codes: C03B 37/02781 Hollow fibres, e.g. holey fibres
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/02333 Core having higher refractive index than cladding, e.g. solid core, effective index guiding
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/02357 Property of longitudinal structures or background material varies radially and/or azimuthally in the cladding, e.g. size, spacing, periodicity, shape, refractive index, graded index, quasiperiodic, quasicrystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0365 arranged - - +

Abstract

Microstructured optical fiber for single-moded transmission of optical signals, the optical fiber including a core region and a cladding region, the cladding region including an annular void-containing region that contains non-periodically disposed voids. The optical fiber provides single mode transmission and low bend loss.

Claims

1. A method of making an optical fiber comprising randomly distributed voids therein, the method comprising the step of drawing said fiber from a preform comprising randomly distributed voids therein under conditions effective to result in process parameter Ω

which is less than 5×

10<sup>−

7</sup>, where

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising drawing said fiber at a draw tension greater than 200 g.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising drawing said fiber at a draw tension between 250 and 300 grams.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein Ω

is less than 3×

10<sup>−

7</sup>.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the ratio of the number of voids in said preform when viewed in cross section prior to said drawing step to the number of voids in the resultant optical fiber when viewed in cross section after the draw step is less than 2000.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratio of of the number of voids in said preform when viewed in cross section prior to said drawing step to the number of voids in the resultant optical fiber when viewed in cross section after the draw step is less than 2000.