March 11, 2005, Beaverton, OR--Photon Kinetics, a leading supplier of testing solutions for optical fiber manufacturers, announced at OFC/NFOEC 2005 (Anaheim, CA) an important capability for its 2600 Preform Analyzer. Preform tomography software enables more comprehensive refractive index profiles than those obtained with traditional computation methods.
Tomographic software generates a refractive index "map" of the entire preform cross section from the preform analyzer data, as opposed to a collection of discrete radial index profiles. And it produces this map without making any assumptions regarding preform symmetry as traditional methods do. Together these advantages should enable manufacturers of standard telecom fiber preforms to obtain more precise index profiles than ever before, profiles that could reveal anomalies that previously escaped detection.
Manufacturers of radially asymmetric specialty optical fibers, such as panda and bowtie-type polarization-maintaining fibers, will reap the greatest benefit from the tomographic reconstruction software as they currently have very limited capability for characterizing their preforms. Tomographic analysis will give them the essential data they need to optimize processes and predict drawn fiber performance at the earliest possible process stage.