Super-large-effective-area (SLA) optical fiber and communication system incorporating the same

摘要

A super-large-effective-area (SLA) optical fiber (10) that is suitable for communicating over a wide wavelength range and that, because of its large effective area, suppresses nonlinear effects that typically result from interaction between signal channels. The effective area, Aeff, of the SLA fiber (10) of the present invention preferably is equal to or greater than approximately 80 µm2 at a wavelength window around 1310 nm. Thus, the SLA fiber (10) of the present invention has a very large effective area and a very low cutoff wavelength. In accordance with the present invention, a variety of SLA fibers are provided that all have very large effective areas and desirable transmission properties. The large effective areas of the SLA fibers of the present invention enable nonlinear effects to be suppressed, as well as Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in analog transmission. The large effective areas also enable attenuation to be reduced. The result of suppressing nonlinear effects and reducing attenuation enable signals to be transmitted over long distances and over a broad bandwidth.