Compensation of dispersion at a wavelength around 1550nm in a 1310nm optimized single-mode fiber can be achieved by specially designed fibers whose dispersion coefficient (D) is negative and large at 1550nm. These types of fibers are known as Dispersion Compensating Fibers (DCFs).
Compensation of dispersion at a wavelength around 1550nm in a 1310nm optimized single-mode fiber can be achieved by specially designed fibers whose dispersion coefficient (D) is negative and large at 1550nm. These types of fibers are known as Dispersion Compensating Fibers (DCFs).
Conventional single-mode fibers are characterized by large (~ 5-6 μm) core radii and zero-dispersion occur around 1300 nm. Operation around λ0 at 1300 nm thus leads to very low pulse broadening, but the attenuation is higher than at 1550nm.
Thus, to exploit the low-loss window around 1550nm, new fiber designs were developed that had zero-dispersion around the 1550 nm wavelength region.