Polarisation Dependence of Bend Loss for a Standard Singlemode Fiber

Polarization dependence of bend loss caused by the polymer coating layer for a standard singlemode fiber (SMF28) is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Bend loss for SMF28 for both the TE and TM mode is calculated separately. Normalized polarization dependent loss is proposed for the characterization of the polarization sensitivity of bend loss for different bend radii. Corresponding experimental tests are presented, which agree with the theoretical results. Both the theoretical and experimental results show that the polymer coating layer has a significant influence on the polarization dependence of bend loss. ©2007 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (060.2310) Fiber optics; (060.2430) Fibers, single-mode. References and links 1. R. C. Gauthier and C. Ross, “Theoretical and experimental considerations for a singlemode fiber-optic bendtype sensor,” Appl. Opt. 36, 6264-6273 (1997). 2. A. J. Harris, P. A. Shrubshall and P. F. Castle, “Wavelength demultiplexing using bends in a singlemode optical fiber,” J. Lightwave Technol. 6, 80-86 (1988). 3. Q. Wang, G. Farrell, T. Freir, G. Rajan, and P. Wang, "Low-cost wavelength measurement based on a Macrobending Singlemode Fiber," Opt. Lett. 31, 1785-1787 (2006). 4. Q. Wang, G. Farrell, and T. Freir, "Theoretical and experimental investigations of macro-bend losses for standard single mode fibers," Opt. Express 13, 4476-4484(2005). 5. I. Valiente and C. Vassallo, “New formalism for bending losses in coated single-mode optical fibers,” Electron. Lett. 25, 1544-1545(1989). 6. H. Renner, “Bending losses of coated singlemode fibers: a simple approach,” J. Lightwave Technol. 10, 544551 (1992). 7. L. Faustini and G. Martini, “Bend loss in singlemode fibers,” J. Lightwave Technol. 15, 671-679 (1997). 8. R. Scarmozzino, A. Gopinath, R. Pregla, and S. Helfert, “Numerical techniques for modelling guided-wave photonic devices,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 6, 150-162 (2000). 9. M. S. Stern, “Semivectorial polarized finite difference method for optical waveguides with arbitrary index profiles,” IEE Proceedings 135, 56-63 (1988). 10. W. W. Lui, C. –L. Xu, T. Hirono, et.al., “Full-vectorial wave propagation in semiconductor optical bending waveguides and equivalent straight waveguide approximations,” J. Lightwave Technol. 15, 910-914 (1998). 11. W. Berglund and A. Gopinath, “WKB analysis of bend losses in optical waveguides,” J. Lightwave Technol. 18, 1161-1166(2000).