Optical and mechanical properties of single mode cables at 1300 nm

Single-mode fibers were produced by the MCVD process with losses as low as 0.40 dB/km at 1.3 micron. Loose tube cables were made using these fibers without any loss penalty for a temperature range of -30 C to +70 C. The cables made with these single-mode fibers withstood 600 lbs. pulling and 8.75 N-m impact tests. Concatenation of these fibers using elastomeric splices showed an average splice loss of 0.11 dB. Measurement of optical loss and chromatic dispersion on the concatenated links indicated an average end to end loss of 0.54 dB/km and a linear addition of dispersion. Predictions of concatenated dispersion using the ESI parameters of the individual fibers showed excellent agreement with actual measurements.