Abstract

Long-distance and high-capacity transmission systems having a 1550-nm operating wavelength have been actively studied for use with the existing 1300-nm zero-dispersion single-mode-fiber network. In such an application, some method is required for compensating for dispersion in the fiber network. Currently, the method considered to be the most practical is to insert a fiber with a high negative dispersion into the fiber transmission line.^1–3 Yet, in order to incorporate dispersion-compensating fiber (DCF) into the transmission line, it is important to first miniaturize the fiber package. For this, we must make the negative dispersion value as large as possible and the installed length of the DCF as short as possible. To obtain a compact DCF package for use in practical applications, we have fabricated and evaluated a DCF with a W-shaped index profile that can be expected to have a high negative dispersion. Figure 1 shows the refractive index profiles of the two DCFs examined in this study.

© 1995 Optical Society of America