Characteristics of bending loss optimized hole assisted fiber

This paper describes the transmission characteristics of a hole assisted fiber (HAF), which has a conventional germanium-doped core surrounded by several air holes. We report the design principle of the HAF in terms of both bending loss and mode-field diameter characteristics. We also discuss both numerically and experimentally the splicing characteristics of the bending loss optimized HAF when it is spliced with conventional 1.3 μm zero-dispersion single-mode fiber. In addition, we clarify the transmission performance of HAF based optical cord in both digital and analog transmission systems. These results show that bending loss optimized HAF will be useful for constructing a flexible optical network.