Claims
- 1. The method of testing an optical fiber for use in making components of optical communication systems, said method comprising:
selecting a temperature range within which a component made of a fiber is to have a minimum temperature sensitivity, relating said temperature range to a target range of attenuation of light transmitted through the fiber, providing the fiber, testing said provided fiber to determine its attenuation of light; and determining an acceptability of the provided fiber by comparing the determined attenuation to said target attenuation range.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein:
said attenuation is a characteristic of a fiber quantifiable in terms of dB per unit length of the fiber at a selected test wavelength.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein:
said test wavelength is approximately 1550 nm.
- 4. The method of making an optical fiber for use in making components of optical communication systems, said method comprising:
selecting a temperature range within which a component made of a fiber is to have a minimum temperature sensitivity, relating said temperature range to a target range of attenuation of an optical test signal transmitted through the fiber, making the fiber with a core and cladding with the core including a given concentration of B2O3, testing the fiber to determine its attenuation of said signal, if the determined attenuation of said signal by the fiber falls outside of said target range of attenuation, making a new fiber wherein the core has a concentration of B2O3 different from the concentration of B2O3 in the preceding fiber, testing the new fiber to determine its attenuation of said signal, and if the determined attenuation of the signal by the new fiber falls outside of the target range of attenuation, repeating said steps of making and testing a new fiber until arriving at a fiber having an attenuation of said signal which falls into said target range.
- 5. The method of making an optical fiber for use in making components of optical communication system, said method comprising:
selecting a temperature range within which it is desired that a temperature characteristic Tm of the fiber fall, which temperature characteristic Tm is the temperature at which the rate of change of a response of a component made from the fiber to an optical signal of given wavelength with respect to temperature passes through zero, relating said selected temperature range to a target range of attenuation of an optical test signal of given wavelength transmitted through the fiber, making a preform having regions of core material and cladding material, with the core material including a given concentration of B2O3, drawing a fiber from said preform, testing the fiber to determine its attenuation of said signal per unit length of the fiber, if said determined attenuation of said signal by said fiber falls outside of said target range of attenuation, making a new preform wherein the core material has a concentration of B2O3 different from that of the core material of the preceding preform, drawing a new fiber from the new preform, testing the new fiber to determine its attenuation of said test signal per unit length of the fiber, and if the determined attenuation of the signal by the new fiber falls outside of said target range of attenuation, repeating said steps of making a new preform, drawing a fiber from the new preform and testing the new fiber until arriving at a fiber having an attenuation of said test signal which falls into said target range of attenuation.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein:
in said step of making a new preform the cladding material of the new preform has the same composition as the cladding material of the preceding preform.
- 7. The method of claim 5, wherein:
when a fiber drawn from one preform has an attenuation falling below the target range of attenuations, making the core material of the next preform have a greater concentration of B2O3 than in the core material of the one preform.
- 8. The method of claim 5, wherein:
when a fiber drawn from one preform has an attenuation falling above the target range of attenuations, making the core material of the next preform have a lesser concentration of B2O3 than in the core material of the one preform.
- 9. The method of claim 5, wherein:
said core material comprises GeO2, B2O3, and SiO2.
- 10. The method of claim 5, wherein:
said target attenuation range is 21.9 dB/km to 31.3 dB/km.
- 11. An optical fiber for use in making components of optical communication systems, said fiber comprising:
a core consisting essentially of 13.5 to 16.5 weight percentage GeO2, some weight percentage of B2O3, and the remainder SiO2; and a cladding consisting essentially of 1.4 to 1.8 weight percentage P2O5, 0.3 to 0.6 weight percentage F, and the remainder SiO2; with the weight percentage of B2O3 in the core being such that said fiber attenuates a 1550 nm signal transmitted through it by 21.9 dB/km to 31.3 dB/km.
- 12. An optical fiber as defined in claim 9, wherein:
the weight percentage of B2O3 in the core is such that said fiber attenuates a 1550 nm signal transmitted through it by 21.9 dB/km to 31.3 dB/km.
- 13. An optical fiber as defined in claim 9, wherein:
the weight percentage of B2O3 in the core are such that said fiber attenuates a 1550 nm signal transmitted through it by approximately 25.8 dB/km.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to provisional patent application 60/380,700, filed May 14, 2002 and entitled “Method Of Providing An Optical Fiber Having A Minimum Temperature Sensitivity At A Selected Temperature,” and which is herein incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60380700 |
May 2002 |
US |