Dispersion Compensating Fibers with Improved Splicing Performance

Dispersion compensating fibers (DCF) with improved splicing performance were designed and fabricated. The design features of a tri-cladding index profile were described, and the properties of the obtained fibers were measured. Germanium, fluorine and/or chlorine were doped in the core and the claddings to create a refraction index profile characteristic of DCF. The fibers with different dopant concentrations were investigated. The results show that the splicing loss between the DCF and the standard single mode fibers (SSMF) could be reduced even in a very short fusion time by modifying the refractive index profile of the DCF. The dispersion coefficient of the DCF at 1550 nm reaches -150 ps/nm/km and the splicing loss between the DCF and the SSMF decreases to 0.7 dB.