Image shows a large RIC preform to be drawn into an optical fiber of 125 μm diameter for the production of optical fibers for the telecommunications industry. Photo Courtesy of obs/Heraeus Quarzglas
AMS Technologies offers a new service for Refractive Index Measurements on Optical Fiber. At our testing facility in Munich we can secure quick sample turnaround and offer confidentiality of measurement results. The refractive index profile allows determination of key transmission parameters like Chromatic dispersion, Mode Field diameter, Bandwidth, Birefringence and Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD).
Line plots and Tomography scans
The measurements can be taken in one dimension giving a line plot of the refractive index at any given cross section of the fiber. This measurement assumes the fiber to be symmetrical and symmetrical geometry is assumed for the computation of the refractive index profile. For the two dimensional measurements several lower dimensional projections are combined to form a full surface profile of the refractive index. This computer tomography based approach does not take assumptions for the fibers being symmetric.
Environmental Testing Solution
The interferometry measurement technique used in the setup does not require external calibration. Measurements can be done with fiber diameters from 40 to 400µm, measurement wavelength from 450 to 980nm. Fiber material can be silica glass, non-silica glass or plastic. The accuracy of index of refraction is +/- 0.0001, accuracy of stress measurement is +/- 5 MP
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