High-performance dispersion-compensating fibers

Abstract
An optimum fiber structure for a practical dispersion-compensating fiber (DCF) has been explored theoretically and experimentally, taking dispersion, attenuation, bending loss characteristics, polarization mode dispersion, and nonlinear effects into account. A high figure of merit (FOM) of 280 ps/nm/dB has been successfully achieved with a simple matched cladding design. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the optimized structure with enhanced FOM also benefits self-phase modulation (SPM) suppression.